Acquisition Accelerates Growth And Diversification Of Wescast.

Business Editors

BRANTFORD, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 26, 2002

Wescast Industries Inc., (NASDAQ:WCST) (TSX:WCS.A.TO) the world's largest supplier of cast exhaust manifolds for passenger cars and light trucks has entered into an agreement to acquire Georgia Ductile Foundries LLC ("Georgia Ductile").

The transaction will see Wescast acquire 100% of Georgia Ductile for approximately $70 million (US). Wescast will pay $23 million (US) in cash with the balance funded through the assumption of all related debt. The acquisition is expected to close in early September 2002, subject to the completion of due diligence, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Georgia Ductile, a privately held corporation, manufactures sand cast iron components primarily for the automotive industry focusing on suspension and brake components.

"This transaction reflects Wescast's commitment to achieve operational excellence and growth through globalization and diversification. We believe that this opportunity capitalizes on our competitive advantages and core competencies with respect to iron casting, machining and full service design capabilities while still maintaining our automotive focus," said Ray Finnie, President and CEO.

"Georgia Ductile is an excellent addition to Wescast. They have a strong sales force, solid market reputation and technical expertise. The acquisition will provide rapid entry into the suspension and brake component business through Georgia Ductile's existing customer base. Over time, we believe we can enhance the performance of the operation and anticipate accretive earnings per share by 2004 as the ramp up of the facility is achieved," he concluded.

About Georgia Ductile

Georgia Ductile, with manufacturing located in Cordele, Georgia and sales and engineering support in Troy, Michigan employs approximately 200 people. Anticipated sales revenues in 2002 are $20 million (US) and $45 million (US) in 2004.

George W. Mathews, Jr., founded this technologically advanced foundry in 2000 and has expanded the facility to support capacity requirements. Mr. Mathews earned an Industrial Management degree from Georgia Tech and later received an MBA from Harvard University. In 1971, he founded Intermet Corporation and retired as Chairman in 1994. Mr. Mathews will continue to support the growth efforts of Georgia Ductile as a consultant for the next two years.

A conference call to discuss this announcement has been arranged for July 29, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. To participate, please dial [phone]. For those unable to participate in the call, a "post view" number can be accessed until August 2, 2002. Please dial [phone] and enter pass code # 20785681.

For questions and answers regarding this news release, please visit our website at www.wescast.com.

About Wescast Industries Inc.

Wescast Industries is the world's largest supplier of exhaust manifolds for passenger cars and light trucks. The Company designs, develops, casts and machines high-quality iron exhaust manifolds for automotive OEMs. Wescast has sales and design centres in Canada, the United States and Germany, as well as sales representation in the United Kingdom, France and Japan. The company operates six production facilities in North America, including a 49% interest in United Machining Inc., an accredited Minority supplier in Michigan, and a 50% joint venture interest in Weslin Autoipari Rt., a Hungarian based supplier of cast iron exhaust manifolds and turbo charger housings for the European light vehicle market. The Company is recognized worldwide for its quality products, innovative design solutions and highly committed workforce.

Advisory

Wescast and its representatives may periodically make written or oral statements that are "forward-looking", including statements included in this news release and in our filings with applicable Securities commissions and in reports to our stockholders. These statements may be identified by words such as "believe", "anticipate," "project," "expect," "intend" or other similar expressions, and include all statements which address operating performance, events or developments that we expect or anticipate may occur in the future (including statements relating to future sales or earnings expectations, volume growth, awarded sales contracts and earnings per share expectations or statements expressing general optimism about future operating results). Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause unanticipated events and actually evolve to be materially different from those either expressed or implied. These factors include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the automotive industry, production, marketing and transportation such as loss of market, volatility of prices, currency fluctuations, environmental risks, competition from other producers and ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources; as a consequence, actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Wescast undertakes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements.