GBC News - GBC & ACCO Merge

ACCO World to Merge with General Binding Corporation(GBC), Creating World's Largest Supplier of Branded Office Products.

ACCO-GBC Enterprise Will Boast Exceptional Brand Portfolio and Increased Scale in Growing Office Products Market.Lincolnshire and Northbrook, IL, March 16, 2005 - In moves to enhance shareholder value, Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE: FO) and General Binding Corporation (NASDAQ: GBND) announced today that Fortune Brands will spin off to shareholders its ACCO World Corporation office products unit, and that ACCO will merge with General Binding Corporation (GBC) to create the world's largest supplier of branded office products with combined revenues of nearly $2 billion.

The merger of ACCO and GBC will establish an office products powerhouse with a broad portfolio of leading brands. The new company, to be called Acco Brands Corporation, will combine ACCO's Swingline, Wilson Jones, Kensington, Day-Timer and Rexel brands with GBC's GBC and Quartet brands. With increased scale and international reach, Acco Brands Corporation will be well positioned to capitalize on growth opportunities in the growing and fragmented global office products market. This Excellent Strategic Fit Creates Office Products Powerhouse.

"ACCO and GBC are an excellent strategic fit, and we're excited about our growth opportunities as a combined independent, publicly traded company," said David Campbell, president & CEO of ACCO World, who will lead the new company as chairman & CEO. "ACCO has achieved success over the past three years by creating low-cost state-of-the art supply chains, highly efficient shared support services, and a sharply focused go-to-market strategy. Our successful realignment gives us an excellent foundation for future growth. The merger with GBC is the next logical step forward." Acco Brands Corporation plans to establish long-term growth goals that include low-to-mid single-digit sales growth, mid-to-high single-digit operating income growth and double-digit growth in diluted EPS.

"Acco Brands Corporation will be built on the strength of great brands, top-notch people, an effective strategy, stepped-up innovation and a low-cost infrastructure. GBC's brands - market leaders in binding, laminating, presentation boards and shredders - complement our positions in the growing document presentation, visual communication and workspace tools categories. Combining our two companies' strengths will increase our product breadth and provide excellent opportunities to increase efficiencies. With consolidation in the customer tier, large customers increasingly want to deal with large suppliers with strong brands, and we'll be better positioned than ever to compete in this environment.

As the world's largest supplier of branded office products, Acco Brands will support the consumer's need for greater productivity - at work, at home, at school and on the road.” The broad categories in which the combined company's brands compete represent approximately $40 billion in sales in the U.S. and Europe. Dennis Martin, chairman, president and CEO of GBC, said, "We're very excited about the prospects of being a significant part of Acco Brands Corporation, and we're confident that combining these two complementary companies to make a larger, stronger one makes perfect strategic sense.

ACCO Brands Corporation has been one of the world's largest suppliers of office supplies and equipment for more than a century. The ACCO binding and office supply company boasts a proud history of industry leadership, innovation and focus on delivering exceptional value for customers by providing unique, leading-edge office products. Contact Online Skyline for more information on Acco binding products, office supplies and equipment at 1-866-455-9900.