Mills & Partners, Hicks Muse To Acquire Camden Wire From Oneida Ltd.

St. Louis, January 2, 1997 - Mills & Partners, Inc., a St. Louis-based firm specializing in the acquisition and operation of commercial and industrial companies, and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated, a leading investment firm headquartered in Dallas, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which International Wire Group, Inc. will acquire Camden Wire Co., Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Oneida Ltd. in a transaction valued at approximately $60 million. International Wire of St. Louis is a wire and wire harness manufacturer formed by Hicks Muse and Mills & Partners in June 1995.

Camden Wire, with a total of four manufacturing facilities in Camden, N.Y., Pine Bluff, Ark., and El Paso, Tex., is a fabricator of non-insulated conductor wire used by original equipment manufacturers in the electronics, transportation and consumer products industries. In fiscal 1995, Camden Wire recorded sales of approximately $149 million. Following completion of the transaction, which is expected to occur in February 1997, the operations of Camden Wire will be integrated into International Wire's Non-Insulated Wire Division.

James N. Mills, chairman of Mills & Partners, said, "Strategically, the acquisition of Camden provides International Wire the ability to expand the geographic platform from which to cross-sell its non-insulated wire products."

Jack D. Furst, a managing director and partner of Hicks Muse, said, "We are continuing to implement our successful buy-and-build philosophy at International Wire. Camden Wire is a strong enterprise whose operations will fit well with those of International Wire. "The definitive agreement announced today supersedes the one announced by Oneida on November 26, 1996, under which Camden Wire was to have been acquired by The Aarque Companies for approximately $51 million.

Since its formation in 1989, Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated has completed or currently has pending more than 60 transactions with an aggregate capital value in excess of $10 billion. Headquartered in Dallas, the firm also has offices in New York, St. Louis and Mexico City.

Mills & Partners, Inc., founded in 1985 and headquartered in St. Louis, has participated in the acquisitions leading to the formation and expansion of several significant stand-alone companies. These commercial and industrial companies generate revenues in excess of $2.2 billion with 90 manufacturing facilities and 16,000 employees located in most of the world's significant industrialized countries.