Escalade Inc. Completes Tender Offer for Schleicher & Co. International AG

    EVANSVILLE, Ind., April 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Escalade, Inc.
 (Nasdaq:   ESCA) announced that Martin Yale Industries, Inc. (Martin Yale), a
 wholly owned subsidiary of Escalade Inc., has successfully completed its
 tender offer for Schleicher & Co. International AG (Schleicher). Martin Yale
 now owns 97.2%, or 2,784,603 shares. The remaining minority shares will be
 purchased under the "squeeze-out" provisions in German Corporate Law.
     "This business combination has significant synergies that have immediate
 benefits to both companies," stated Bill Reed, CEO and President of Escalade,
 Inc. "Martin Yale gains instant access to the European market place through
 the well developed sales channels of Schleicher, and Schleicher will increase
 its market presence in both the United States and Europe through its
 association with the strong brand strength of Martin Yale."
     Schleicher, headquartered in Markdorf, Germany, is a world leader in the
 manufacture and distribution of data shredders with subsidiaries in Austria,
 Czech Republic, China, England, France, India and the USA. Schleicher products
 are sold under the popular "intimus," " Taros," "Papermonster," and "Olympia"
 trademarks and include small personal shredders, a complete range of office
 shredders, high capacity industrial paper shredders, and high security
 shredders used by governmental agencies around the world. Schleicher also
 offers Automatic Paper Removal Systems for large office Buildings under the
 name of VacuShred. For the nine months ended December 31, 2002, Schleicher
 reported sales of 32 million Euro, approximately 30 million US dollars. For
 more information on Schleicher visit: www.schleicher.de
     Martin Yale is a leading supplier of office products, business machines,
 and graphic arts equipment sold under the "Martin Yale", "Premier", "Master",
 and "Mead Hatcher" brand names. For more information on Martin Yale
 visit: www.martinyale.com .
     Escalade is a quality manufacturer and marketer of sporting goods and
 office/graphic arts products sold worldwide by better resellers.
     For more information on Escalade, Inc., please contact John R. Wilson,
 Vice President and CFO at 812/467-1265 or C.W. (Bill) Reed, President and CEO
 at 260/563-0621.
     For more Information on Schleicher please contact the Office of the
 President & CEO, Dr. E. Leopold Dieck at +49 (0) 7544-60150
 
 

SOURCE  Escalade, Inc.