Newell Rubbermaid Inc. Acquires French Window

Furnishings / Manufacturer Ateliers 28 FREEPORT, Ill. (ots-PRNewswire) - Newell Rubbermaid Inc.(NYSE: NWL) announced today that it has entered into a definitiveagreement to acquire Ateliers 28 located in Tremblay LesVillages, France. Ateliers 28, with estimated 1998 revenues of US$40 million, manufactures and markets decorative and functionaldrapery hardware in Europe, principally in France. Terms of thetransaction were not disclosed. Ateliers 28 will operate as part of Newell Window FashionsEurope which includes the Hofesa(TM), Acrimo(TM), Gardinia(TM),Swish(R) and Kirsch(R) brand names. Peter J. Martin is presidentof Newell Window Fashions Europe. Based in Freeport, Ill., Newell Rubbermaid Inc. is a multi-national manufacturer and marketer of high-volume, branded,staple consumer products with restated 1998 sales of $6.2billion. Newell Rubbermaid products are sold through a variety ofretail and wholesale distribution channels in the followingbusiness segments: Household Products, including Mirro(R) andCalphalon(R) cookware, Rubbermaid(R) and Curver(R) home products,Little Tikes(R), Graco(R) and Century(R) infant and juvenileproducts, Anchor Hocking(R) glassware and Goody(R) hairaccessories; Hardware and Home Furnishings, including Levolor(R),Kirsch(R) and Newell(R) window treatments, Amerock(R), EZPaintr(R), BernzOmatic(R) and Bulldog(R) hardware and tools,Intercraft(R) and Burnes(R) picture frames and Lee Rowan(R) homestorage products; and Office Products, including Sanford(R),Berol(R), Sharpie(R) and Rotring(R) writing instruments andRolodex(R) and Eldon(R) office storage and organization products. The statements contained in this press release that are nothistorical in nature are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees since there are inherentdifficulties in predicting future results, and actual resultscould differ materially from those expressed or implied in theforward-looking statements. These factors include, withoutlimitation, those disclosed in Newell's 1998 Form 10-K filed withthe Securities and Exchange Commission. ots Original TextService: Newell Rubbermaid Inc. Internet:http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Ross A. Porter, Jr., VicePresident - Investor Relations of Newell Rubbermaid Inc., 815-381-8150 Web site: http://www.newellco.com

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