Avnet Elects James A. Lawrence Director

Business Wire, April 7, 1999

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 1999--Roy Vallee, Chairman and CEO of global electronics distributor Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT), has announced the election of James A. Lawrence to the Company's Board of Directors. Lawrence's election brings the number of Avnet's directors to 10, nine of whom are outside directors.

Lawrence is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of General Mills, Minneapolis, Minn. His experience includes more than 16 years in management consulting, corporate finance and general management.

Prior to joining General Mills, Lawrence was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Northwest Airlines. Before joining Northwest, he spent four years at Pepsi-Cola International, serving most of that time as President and CEO of its operations in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

For the previous nine years, Lawrence was Chairman and co-founder of LEK Partnership, a highly successful corporate strategy and merger/acquisition consulting firm headquartered in London. Earlier, he was a partner in Bain and Company.

Lawrence holds a BA degree from Yale and an MBA from Harvard University.

"The Avnet Board of Directors is strengthened by the addition of Jim Lawrence. Jim's broad financial background, coupled with his extensive international experience, will serve our Company well as we continue our strategic globalization," said Vallee.

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Avnet, Inc. is a Fortune 500 company with annual sales exceeding $5.9 billion. With sales in 58 countries, Avnet markets, inventories and adds value to the products of the most prestigious electronic components and computer equipment manufacturers for customers worldwide.