Forbo Adhesives, LLC and Industrial Adhesives, Inc. recently announced the formation of a strategic alliance that grants Forbo the right to exclusively distribute Industrial's Hot Melt Wide Tape products under the Packtape and Packstring trade names worldwide. On a non-exclusive basis, Forbo will at the same time distribute Industrial Adhesives' complete line of thermoplastic hot melt adhesives and hot melt tape/string products, and Industrial will also have access to portions of Forbo's product lines to distribute throughout the North American marketplace. This alliance is an important strategic step for Forbo in moving its global product portfolio to higher value products. In addition, it provides the framework to expedite the process of commercializing Industrial's wide tape products by the sharing of best manufacturing practices and utilization of Forbo's global sales organization. Under the terms of their agreement, Forbo also retains the option to purchase substantially all the assets of Industrial Adhesives at a later date. Finally, Forbo will construct a new water-based adhesive manufacturing plant at the Industrial Adhesives site in Eugene, OR. The purpose of this facility is to support expansion and distribution of Forbo's complete line of water-based adhesives under the Forbo brand name for their customers on the West Coast. Forbo expects to begin construction on the new facility during the second quarter of 2004.

For more information, visit http://www.forbo.com .