Alcoa Completes Tender Offer For Shibazaki, Raising Ownership Stake to 95.9% From 70.8%.

Business Editors

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 1, 2002

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) today announced that it completed its previously announced tender offer for Shibazaki Seisakusho Ltd., a Japanese manufacturer of plastic and aluminum closures and caps for the beverage and pharmaceutical industries, raising its ownership stake to 95.9% from 70.8%.

The tender offer began on March 29th through Alcoa's wholly owned subsidiary, Alcoa Closures Holding Company LLC, and expired on April 30. Alcoa will acquire 3,504,440 shares of Shibazaki in the tender offer at 800 yen per share, or a total of approximately $22 million. The tender offer was supported by the Shibazaki Board of Directors.

Alcoa intends to operate the business with the current Shibazaki management and workforce.

Shibazaki, through its partnership with Alcoa, is a leader in Japan in the closures and caps market. The company has 330 employees, with most located at its manufacturing facility in Nogi, Japan.

Alcoa is the world's leading producer of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina, and is active in all major aspects of the industry. Among its related businesses are precision castings, vinyl siding, closures, and electrical distribution systems for cars and trucks. It has 129,000 employees in 38 countries.