FRB| WEBER SHANDWICK
| FINANCIAL COMMUNICATIONS
RE: NN, Inc.
2000 Waters Edge Drive
Johnson City, TN 37604
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
AT THE COMPANY: AT FRB|WEBER SHANDWICK
- --------------- ----------------------
Will Kelly Kerry Thalheim Susan Garland
Treasurer & Manager of Investor Relations (General info) (Analyst info)
(423) 743-9151 212-445-8437 212-445-8458
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 21, 2001
NN, INC. ANNOUNCES SALE OF ITS INTEREST IN
JOINT VENTURE COMPANY IN CHINA
Johnson City, Tenn - December 21, 2001 - NN, Inc. (Nasdaq: NNBR) today announced
that it has sold its interest in Jiangsu General Ball & Roll Company, LTD, a
Chinese ball and roller manufacturer located in Rugao City, Jiangsu Province,
China.
To effect the transaction, NN sold its 50% ownership in NN General, LLC, which
owns a 60% interest in the Jiangsu joint venture, to its partner, General
Bearing Corporation (Nasdaq: GNRL) for a combination of cash and notes valued at
$3.9 million. NN, Inc. anticipates a non-cash after-tax write down of its
investment in the joint venture of approximately $130,000, in the fourth quarter
of 2001.
Roderick R. Baty, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We concluded
that our 30% minority ownership limited our ability to achieve the financial
returns we had originally projected. For that reason, we pursued with General
Bearing the sale of NN's interest in Jiangsu General Ball & Roller. This enables
us to recoup our initial investment in the venture and investigate alternative
strategies for an Asian manufacturing presence."
NN, Inc. is an independent manufacturer and supplier of high quality,
precision-bearing components to both domestic and international anti-friction
bearing manufacturers and had sales of US $132 million in 2000.
With the exception of the historical information contained in the release, the
matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, general economic
conditions and economic conditions in the industrial sector, competitive
influences, risks that current customers will commence or increase captive
production, risks of capacity
underutilization, quality issues, availability of raw materials, currency and
other risks associated with international trade, the Company's dependence on
certain major customers, and other risk factors and cautionary statements listed
from time to time in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the Company's Annual
Report on 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2000.
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