Akron Brass Acquires Assets of Reach Engineering LLC

Ohio fire industry manufacturer expands product offering with strategic move Wooster, Ohio

(September 19, 2013) - Akron Brass Company, a division of Premier Farnell [LON:PFL] a leading high service distributor of electronic components, has today announced it has acquired the assets of Reach Engineering LLC, a privately owned company headquartered in Ocala, Florida that provides specialized electronics to the emergency and industrial vehicle markets.

As a part of Akron Brass’s continued strategy of providing customer driven solutions / innovations in life-safety products, the acquisition of Reach’s assets brings best-in-class products to Akron’s already robust portfolio.

Reach Engineering has significant expertise in emergency vehicle products and services and is recognized as an innovator of solutions specifically addressing the needs of the fire service.

“This strategic acquisition demonstrates our commitment to bringing highly customized life-safety technologies to the industry,” said Tom Hudak, President of Akron Brass. “We are now in a position to offer our customers a more complete and integrated apparatus solution to help save lives and protect assets.”

Key products in this acquisition include: The Link2® fleet information platform offering simplified access to onboard apparatus data via Wi-Fi enabled devices and intuitive web-based dashboard and alert management. This comprehensive system increases apparatus and personnel safety, reduces maintenance and operating costs, improves department efficiency and enhances “on scene” command information. The product line offering also includes the Foam RapidFill™ System which is a simple-to-operate, cost effective automated solution which increases safety by eliminating the need for firefighters to climb on top of the apparatus during foam refilling operations.

“Their engineering team brings with them an extensive amount of industry expertise and builds on our innovative and entrepreneurial spirit,” states Sean Tillinghast, Vice President of Weldon. The products and technology that Reach brings are complementary to the leading V-MUX® brand and reinforce the value proposition of our vehicle systems solutions.”

About Akron Brass Company:

Founded in 1918, Akron Brass has been a worldwide marketer and manufacturer of high performance life-safety, firefighting and emergency response equipment for 95 years. Markets served consist of fire & rescue, petro-chemical, marine, military, airports, mining, specialty vehicles and bus & pupil transportation. A Premier Farnell Company, Akron Brass is ISO 9001: 2008 registered and has an excellent reputation for developing and manufacturing innovative products. Headquartered in Wooster, OH, Akron Brass has additional manufacturing facilities in Columbus, OH and Washington, IL, with sales offices in Beijing, China and Dubai, UAE.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that the Company believes to be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s future financial position, business strategy, targets, projected sales, costs, earnings, capital expenditures, debt levels and cash flows, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “should,” “project” or “plan” or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to update information contained in this press release. ### Media Contact: Kim Morrow, Director of Marketing 800-228-1161 kmorrow@akronbrass.com