Johns Manville and Majority Shareholder Provide Update

on Strategic Review DENVER (PROTEXT) - Johns Manville Corporation (NYSE: JM) andits majority shareholder, the Manville Personal Injury SettlementTrust, today announced that discussions between their financialadvisors and potentially interested parties did not result in anacceptable offer for the sale or merger of the company. JohnsManville and the Manville Trust are continuing to explore otheroptions to maximize shareholder value. These options include asecondary public offering by the Trust of a portion of its JohnsManville stock, as well as a buyback of stock by Johns Manville.The Trust currently owns approximately 79% of JM's outstandingstock. "The Trust continues to explore alternative means ofliquidating its holdings of JM stock," said Robert Falise,chairman and managing trustee of the Trust. "The Trust believesthat a secondary offering of a portion of its JM stock is anappropriate first step towards an eventual liquidation of itsinvestment in Johns Manville." "We believe that the combination of a secondary publicoffering by the Trust and share repurchases by the company willcreate value for our shareholders," stated Jerry Henry, chairmanand CEO of JM. "These transactions will be accretive to ourearnings, create a more active trading market for our stock andenhance the utilization of our tax asset. In addition, thisapproach provides a greater opportunity for our organization tocontinue its value-creation strategy." Johns Manville is a leading manufacturer and marketer ofpremium-quality building products. The 141-year-old Denver-basedcompany had sales of $1.8 billion in 1998. Johns Manville employsapproximately 9,200 people and operates 54 manufacturingfacilities in North America, Europe and China. Additionalinformation can be found at www.jm.com. This news release contains "forward looking statements" withinthe meaning of the federal securities laws with respect to thecompany's financial results and its future operations and, assuch, concern matters that are not historical facts. Thesestatements are subject to risks and uncertainties that couldcause actual results to differ materially from those expressed insuch statements. Important factors that could cause suchdifferences are discussed in the company's periodic reports onForms 10-Q and 10-K that are filed with the Securities andExchange Commission and are incorporated herein by thisreference. ots Original Text Service: Johns Manville CorporationInternet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Investors: JohnCummings, 303-978-4914, Media: Tom Rafferty, 303-978-2038, bothof Johns Manville Corporation Company News On-Call:http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/527775.html or fax, 800-758-5804,ext. 527775 Web site: http://www.jm.com

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