American Vantage Companies to Acquire Internet Company.

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 7, 1999--

American Vantage Companies (NASDAQ:AVCS) announced today that it has agreed in principle to purchase a majority interest in Placement 2000.Com Inc. (Placement 2000), a privately held Internet concern specializing in online services for information technology (IT) professionals, companies, and recruiters.

Under the terms of the Letter of Intent, American Vantage Companies will acquire the interest in Placement 2000 for $1 million in cash with additional consideration of up to $2 million to be paid and options to purchase up to 1 million shares of American Vantage Companies common stock based upon future earnings. The purchase price to be paid to Placement 2000 will be used for Placement 2000's general corporate purposes.

Based in New York, Placement 2000 maintains three distinct Web-based properties that offer fully integrated online recruiting solutions for information technology candidates, corporate hiring managers, and third-party recruiters.

The flagship site is intended to be a resume and job-posting database with advanced search capabilities containing many value-added features which Placement 2000 believes are not already present in any of the existing career sites on the Internet today. The site also is intended to provide dynamic content, helpful links to other prominent career Web-based resources, and strategic distribution partnerships with several other well-known job sites.

The two other sites are a resume forwarding service and a site for facilitating relationships and sharing of positions and candidates in the third-party recruiting "split" market. Placement 2000's three Web-properties additionally intend to generate a significant value stream for its traditional recruiting operations. The resume and job-posting database site and the "split" market site are intended to be fully operational within 90 days of the closing of the transaction.

The proposed purchase of Placement 2000 is a major step for American Vantage Companies, as part of its diversification strategy, to acquire and develop companies which can become market leaders on the Internet and can benefit from American Vantage Companies' business development and management support, financing and marketing knowledge.

American Vantage Companies generally will invest in companies in which it can purchase a large enough ownership interest to enable it to have significant influence over the management and policies of the company and to realize a significant return to compensate for its investment of management time and effort, as well as capital. The Company intends to allocate capital to the acquisition of Internet companies that meet its investment criteria should the proper opportunities arise.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the lack of the Company's experience in managing Internet businesses, the uncertain acceptance of the Internet, as well as the existing and potential competitors in the Internet business. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those described in any forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning potential risk factors that could affect the Company's business and financial results are included in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. They can also be found on the Company's Web site at www.americanvantage.com and on the Securities and Exchange Commission's Web site at www.sec.gov.