Finning International Inc T.FTT

Finning Announces Sale of Hewden Tower Cranes

[Georgia_Straight]

Finning Announces Sale of Hewden Tower Cranes 10/4/02 VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Oct 4, 2002 (CCNMatthews via COMTEX) -- Finning International Inc. ("Finning") announced today that its U.K. subsidiary, Hewden Stuart Plc ("Hewden"), has divested its Tower Cranes business for an undisclosed sum. The business has been sold to H.T.C. Plant Limited which is a subsidiary of P.C. Harrington Holdings Limited ("P.C. Harrington"). P. C. Harrington is a long standing customer of Hewden, and controls a group of companies involved in specialist trade contracting and associated support services on some of the largest and most prestigious construction projects in the UK. The transaction closed on October 2, 2002. The decision to sell Hewden Tower Cranes was driven by a change in the tower crane industry structure, away from a pure rental of cranes towards a full subcontract of tower cranes services. Commenting on the sale, Doug Whitehead, President and Chief Executive Officer of Finning noted: "This sale is part of Hewden's strategy to focus on its core equipment rental business and to consolidate its position as the leading equipment rental company in the U.K. The sale's proceeds will be used to invest in Hewden's expanding equipment rental portfolio, such as the recently announced acquisition of the majority of the remaining assets of Maxxiom Limited. This sale enables both parties to develop their core businesses and further enhances their long-term business relationship." Hewden is the largest equipment rental company in the UK, with some 350 depots and 4,000 employees, and revenue of C$313 million for the first 6 months of 2002. Finning International Inc. sells, rents, finances and provides customer support services for Caterpillar equipment and engines, and complementary equipment, in Western Canada, the U.K. and Chile. The corporation's Head Office is located in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Finning International Inc. (www.finning.com) is a widely held, publicly traded corporation, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol FTT). Finning International Inc. Anthony Guglielmin Vice President and Corporate Treasurer [phone] [phone] (FAX) Email: [e-mail] Website: www.finning.com NEWS RELEASE TRANSMITTED BY CCNMatthews Copyright (C) 2002, Canadian Corporate News. All rights reserved.