Shareholders of The Fairchild Corporation to Receive Shares of Leading B2B Marketer Global Sources Ltd. under Terms of Form F-1 Declared Effective by SEC

Business Wire, April 4, 2000

Business Editors

DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 4, 2000

The Fairchild Corporation [NYSE: FA] announced today that the Form F-1 for its subsidiary, Fairchild (Bermuda) Ltd., has been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This allows The Fairchild Corporation to spin-off Fairchild (Bermuda) Ltd. and do a reverse stock split of the Fairchild (Bermuda) Ltd. shares on a basis of one share for every 20 shares of The Fairchild Corporation. Fairchild (Bermuda) Ltd. will then exchange 25,051,374 new shares, representing about 95% of its shares, for 100% of the issued shares of Trade Media Holdings Ltd. After the exchange is completed, Fairchild (Bermuda) Ltd. will change its name to Global Sources Ltd., and on April 14, 2000 begin trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol GSOL. Fairchild's Optical Disc Equipment Group, which was previously contributed to Fairchild (Bermuda) Ltd., will be sold immediately prior to the share exchange.

Jeffrey J. Steiner, Chairman and Chief Executive of The Fairchild Corporation, said: "We are delighted that Fairchild shareholders will receive, without any additional cost, shares of Global Sources, a company that has already established itself in a market of great potential."

The spin-off will be completed on April 13, 2000. The sale of the Optical Disc Equipment Group and the share exchange will occur on April 14, 2000, and the shares of Global Sources will then commence trading on the NASDAQ. All trades of the stock of The Fairchild Corporation from April 4, 2000, up to and including April 13, 2000, will trade with an attached Due Bill. This Due Bill, which will be cleared by the NYSE accredited brokerages, will represent the right of a buyer of The Fairchild Corporation stock to obtain one share of Global Sources Ltd. for approximately every 22 shares of Fairchild common stock purchased from a Fairchild stockholder of record April 3, 2000.

The Fairchild Corporation is the leading worldwide manufacturer and supplier of precision fastening systems used in the construction and maintenance of commercial and military aircraft, and a distributor of aerospace parts. Fairchild Fasteners has manufacturing facilities as well as sales/design customer teams in the United States, Germany, France, Portugal, Hungary, Australia and the United Kingdom. Banner Aerospace, the company's aerospace distribution division, provides aircraft parts and services. Additional information is available on The Fairchild Corporation Website (www.fairchildcorp.com).

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27-A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21-E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements as a result of the risks associated with the Company's business, changes in general economic conditions, and changes in the assumptions used in making such forward-looking statements.