NEW YORK, January 13, 2000 - Castle Harlan, Inc., the New York merchant bank, announced today the formation of Equipment Support Services, Inc., with the purchase by Castle Harlan and management of four distributorships of Case Corp. construction equipment. The transaction was valued at $130 million.

David Pittaway, a senior managing director for Castle Harlan, said Equipment Support Services will be one of the nation's largest and fastest growing companies involved in the distribution, rental and servicing of construction equipment and the largest U.S. distributor for Case Corp.

Equipment Support Services will comprise Carruth-Doggett Industries of Houston; Future Equipment Company of Dallas; United Equipment, Inc., of Memphis, and Southern Power & Equipment of Atlanta. The company has 11 branches in East Texas, three in Atlanta, four in Tennessee and one in Arkansas. Its annual pro forma revenues exceed $200 million.

The company sells, rents and services heavy-duty construction equipment manufactured by Case, including backhoes, bulldozers, excavators, graders and forklifts. Because of its broad product line, the company is the sole supplier for many construction and industrial customers in its territories. It also offers non-Case products in various lines.

"Its markets are among the fastest growing in the construction industry in the U.S.," he said, "and the Case dealerships we are acquiring are among the leaders in sales growth and market share in the entire Case system."

Leslie Doggett, the chief executive officer of Carruth-Doggett Industries and CEO of the new company, added, "Our partnership with Castle Harlan will give us the resources we need to expand our rental and service operations significantly."

Doggett said Mike Runnels, president of Future Equipment, will be president and chief operating officer of Equipment Support Services; Frank Erwin, chief financial officer of Carruth-Doggett, will be CFO, and Dale Yeager will be vice president of the rental division, the position he held with Carruth-Doggett. The company's headquarters will be in Houston.

The equity for the transaction was provided by Castle Harlan Partners III, a $630 million private equity investment fund organized and managed by Castle Harlan. Four executives of the consolidating companies participated in the transaction as shareholders in Equipment Support Services, Pittaway said

Since its founding in 1987, Castle Harlan has completed acquisitions exceeding $4.5 billion. Castle Harlan's portfolio companies have included Delaware Management Company, the Philadelphia-based money-management firm with more than $32 billion in assets under management; Truck Components, Inc., the largest manufacturer of components for large-truck braking systems; Smarte Carte, the world's largest airport luggage cart rental company; and MAG Aerospace, the leader in worldwide manufacture of aircraft sanitation systems.Currently among its portfolio companies are Universal Compression, Inc., a leading independent provider of natural gas compression equipment and services; Worldwide Flight Services, one of the world's leading providers of ground services to the aviation industry, which was acquired from AMR Corp. in March; and the Verdugt B. V. group of acid salts businesses, based in the Netherlands, which was acquired from BP Amoco in April.

Castle Harlan was founded by John K. Castle, a pioneer in institutionalizing private equity investing through limited partnerships and the former president and chief executive officer of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, the investment banking firm, and by Leonard M. Harlan, founder and former owner and chairman of The Harlan Company, a diversified real estate and corporate finance advisory firm.