CORIMON ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT WITH STANDARD BRANDS.

CARACAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February 17, 1995--Corimon, S.A.C.A. (NYSE:CRM), a Venezuelan multinational company, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Standard Brands Paint Company (NYSE:SBP), for it to purchase 77% of the outstanding shares of Standard Brands Paint Company, as part of a financing and restructuring of Standard Brands.

Corimon's investment in Standard Brands will total approximately US$18 million. The acquisition did not involve cash flow from Corimon and was financed through the placement of certain securities by Corimon Corporation, a subsidiary of Corimon, with a leading U.S. institution which is Standard Brands largest shareholder. Upon completion of the transaction, this investor will own 10% of Standard Brands' common shares.

Upon execution of the agreement, Corimon provided US$14 million of interim secured financing to the company. At the closing, Corimon will exchange Standard Brands indebtedness for 77% of the outstanding shares of Standard Brands on the basis of $0.089 per share. As part of the restructuring, at the closing an existing US$16 million of other indebtedness of Standard Brands will be exchanged for Corimon stock and newly issued preferred stock. As a result of the restructuring giving effect to the conversion of preferred stock, Standard Brands existing shareholders, other than the holders of preferred stock, will own approximately 3% of the Standard Brands issued and outstanding common stock on a fully diluted basis.

As part of the restructuring, Fletcher Byrom, Standard Brands Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board resigned. Deborah Midanek was elected Chairman of the Board, and Ronald Scharman was elected interim Chief Executive Officer.

Standard Brands has estimated 1994 sales of US$115 million, 50% of which was derived from paints and related products. The company distributes floor coverings, window treatments and special order wall coverings in addition to other home decorating items. Through its 58 stores and direct outside sales from its wholly owned subsidiary, Major Paint, Standard Brands is one of the west coast s premier suppliers of paint and home decorating products. The company s headquarters, distribution warehouse and paint plant are located in Torrance (Los Angeles), California.

Both Standard Brands and Corimon stand to benefit significantly from the opportunity to consolidate purchases of paint-related and home decorating products.

In an unrelated transaction, Corimon is planning to open its second Construcentro home improvement center in April of this year in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Corimon plans to open its third Construcentro in Caracas by year end. These 10,000 square meter home improvement centers require an investment of approximately US$20 million. They each have 300 employees and offer over 30,000 different products.

Philippe Erard, President and CEO of Corimon said, "Standard Brands represents a major opportunity to implement our growth strategy in the paint, coatings and related products market, supports significant expansion into the United States and improves our access to the international equity and credit markets. We have put together a team of experienced and dedicated people in order to achieve our long-term goals, which coincide with our strategy to become a leader in the international paint market."

CONTACT: Corimon

Gaby Planchart

(011 582) 203 5568

or

Ludgate Communications

Kathy Liebmann or Liann Schottenstein

212/688-5144