Furniture Brands International Announces Proposed Acquisition of Henredon, Drexel Heritage and Maitland-Smith From Lifestyle Furnishings International

Business Wire, Dec 5, 2001

Furniture Brands International is an industry-leading branded consumer products company manufacturing home furnishings under three of the most recognizable brand names in the furniture industry - Broyhill, Lane and Thomasville. The company's products cover a broad spectrum of style and price categories and are distributed through an extensive network of independently owned national, regional and local retailers.

Furniture Brands International will hold a conference call to discuss the transaction at 4:00 p.m. (Central Time) on December 5, 2001. The call can be accessed at www.streetevents.com, or on the company's website at www.furniturebrands.com.

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward looking statements include expected earnings per share, profit margins, and cash flow, the effects of certain business strategies, the prospects for the overall business environment, and other statements containing the words "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," and words of similar import. Furniture Brands International cautions investors that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that certain factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors may include: overall business and economic conditions and growth in the furniture industry; changes in customer spending patterns and demand for home furnishings; competitive factors, such as design and marketing efforts by other furniture manufacturers; pricing pressures; success of the marketing efforts of retailers and the prospects for further customer failures; success in furniture design and manufacture; the effects of manufacturing realignments and cost savings programs; and other risk factors listed from time to time in Furniture Brands International's public releases and SEC reports, including but not limited to the report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2001. Furniture Brands International also cautions investors that its forecast for earnings per share represents their outlook only as of this date, and they undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new developments or otherwise.