POSTED: February 2005

 Hoover signs Letter of Intent with H.C. Starck Ceramics 

A smooth transition for ceramic ball business guaranteed

Cumming, GA, February 25, 2005: Hoover Precision Products, Inc., of Cumming, Georgia announced today that they have signed a Letter of Intent to purchase the ceramic-ball business and certain assets of HC Starck Ceramics GmbH & Co. KG of Selb, Germany.

All business responsibilities for finished ceramic balls, including invoicing and technical service will be consolidated with Hoover.

To guarantee a smooth transition for existing customers, HC Starck Ceramics will continue certain sales activities under an agency contract with Hoover. This procedure will ensure that contacts remain in place.

To ensure high levels of service, Hoover will maintain a consignment stock in Germany to serve the European market. All precision balls will be manufactured by Hoover at their East Granby, Connecticut facility using Toshiba material.

Michaela B. Schnabel, Sales Manager of Bearing Components at HC Starck Ceramics, will remain the contact for European customers under the agency contract with Hoover. Ms. Schnabel can be reached at +49 9287 807142 (.

HC Starck Ceramics is an affiliated company of HC Starck GmbH, a leading producer of metal powders, special metals, chemicals and intermediates for high performance ceramics. HC Starck GmbH is a division of the German Bayer Group.

Hoover Precision Products, Inc., a division of Tsubaki-Nakashima, has eight locations worldwide and is a leader in precision and semi-precision ball finishing technology. The East Granby Specialty Division manufactures high-performance ceramic balls to exacting standards in sizes from 1 mm.

For additional information on Hoover Precision Products contact Peter Maly, European Sales Director at +41-1-991-6725 (petermaly@hooverprecision.com)

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