Avnet Amends Its Corporate Governance Guidelines, Strengthening the Majority Vote Standard for Director Elections

Business Wire, May 17, 2006

PHOENIX -- Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT) today announced that its board of directors has taken action to strengthen the majority vote standard for the election of directors. The board, which in 2005 had adopted a procedure for the circumstance where any director standing for election does not receive a majority vote from shareholders, further amended the company's Corporate Governance Guidelines to provide more specificity for the procedures the board must use and the actions it must take following such a shareholder vote.

These most recent amendments reiterate that in an uncontested election, any director nominee who receives a greater number of votes "withheld" than votes "for" must submit to the board a letter of resignation for consideration by the Corporate Governance Committee and the full board. The amendments will also require the process to be completed and the board to announce the decision within 90 days following the date of the election. In addition, the amendments spell out which of the sitting board members will take part in the deliberations about the letter of resignation.

The Guidelines were also amended to specify the responsibilities and lengthen the term of service for the board's "Lead Director."

An updated copy of the Corporate Governance Guidelines is available at the company's Web site under the heading "Investor Relations--Governance."

About Avnet

Avnet enables success from the center of the technology industry, providing cost-effective services and solutions vital to a broad base of more than 100,000 customers and 300 suppliers. The company markets, distributes and adds value to a wide variety of electronic components, enterprise computer products and embedded subsystems. Through its premier market position, Avnet brings a breadth and depth of capabilities that help its trading partners accelerate growth and realize cost efficiencies. Avnet and the recently acquired Memec (closed July 5, 2005) generated combined revenue in excess of $13 billion in the past year through sales in approximately 70 countries. Visit Avnet's Investor Relations Web site at www.ir.avnet.com or contact us at investorrelations@avnet.com.