Avnet Acquires UK-Based Distributor, SEI Macro Group.

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 1999--

Roy Vallee, chairman and chief executive officer of Avnet Inc. (NYSE:AVT), Friday announced the completion of its acquisition of 94 percent of the SEI Macro Group from Diploma plc.

The signing of the purchase and sale agreement was announced on Sept. 2, 1999. SEI Macro Group, headquartered in Slough, UK, is a European electronic components distributor with reported sales of approximately $200 million in calendar year 1998.

The SEI Macro Group has two electronic components distribution businesses -- one which markets into the industrial OEM and one which markets into the PC component marketplace -- and is franchised to market the products of premier suppliers such as AMD, ADI, AVX, Hitachi, Linear Technology, Molex, Motorola, Philips Semiconductor and Texas Instruments.

Phoenix-based Avnet Inc., a Fortune 500 company with annual sales exceeding $6.35 billion, is one of the world's largest distributors of semiconductors, interconnect, passive and electromechanical components and computer products from the industry's leading manufacturers.

Serving customers in 59 countries, Avnet markets, inventories and adds value to these products and provides world-class supply-chain management services. The company's web site is located at www.avnet.com.