Anixter International Inc.

John Wolz

Anixter International Inc.
2001 Revenue$3,144 million
2000 Revenue $3,514 million
2001 Closing Price 29.01
2000 Closing Price 21.635

Anixter entered the fastener business with its May 2002 agreement to purchase Pentacon Inc. Pentacon went public at $10 in 1998 and rose as high as $14, but had fallen to pennies before Anixter acquired it. Pentacon had been negotiating with lenders and was on the verge of bankruptcy due to $100 million of debt when Anixter stepped in. Much of the debt came from acquisitions. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2002.
Pentacon reported 2001 sales of $259.4 million, compared with $283.7 million for 2000 and $273 million for 1999.
Pentacon operates aerospace and industrial divisions.
Aerospace group president Rob Ruck replaced Mark Baldwin as Pentacon CEO during 2001.
Chatsworth, CA-based Pentacon was started by a merger of five fastener distributors: Alatec Products, AXS Solutions, Capital Bolt & Supply, Maumee Industries and Sales Systems Ltd.
Chicago billionaire Sam Zell is chairman and owns 14% of Anixter.
Anixter is a global distributor of wiring systems and networking products that sells 92,000 items from more than 1,000 suppliers to 85,000 customers.

Corporate Office: 4711 Golf Rd., Skokie, IL 60076�1278. Tel: 847 677-2600 or 800 ANI-XTER Fax 847 677-9480
Web: Anixter.com
NYSE Symbol: AXE
CEO: Robert Grubbs Jr.
Investor Relations: Karen Sackarski Tel: 847 715-2447
Key fastener executives: Pentacon Inc. CEO Rob Ruck
Employees: 5,900 \�2002 FastenerNews.com