Acquisition

Bodycote International PLC
23 August 2000


For further information, please contact:

John Chesworth, Managing Director
Bodycote International plc             Tel:  [phone]



                          Bodycote International plc

Bodycote International plc, the world's leading supplier of metallurgical
services to industry, announces the acquisition of key assets from Saurer
Group of Switzerland.

Barmag AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saurer, has sold its heat treatment
assets to Bodycote for a total consideration of £146,000 (DM456,000), paid in
cash. In 1999, these assets generated revenues and operating profits of
£833,000 (DM2.3m) and £152,000 (DM476,000). The assets themselves are valued
at £118,000 (DM369,000).

Ownership of these assets will allow Bodycote to provide Barmag with a cost
effective solution to its heat treatment requirements which are primarily
located in the automotive, tooling and textile industries in Germany.

Located near Cologne, the Barmag assets are complementary to Bodycote's
existing Sprockhovel and Cologne operations. The combination should provide
considerable cost and production efficiencies in addition to allowing Bodycote
access to Barmag's external customers.

Commenting on the announcement, John Chesworth, Chief Executive, stated.

'Barmag is another example of Bodycote's ability to provide mutually
beneficial outsourcing solutions within metallurgical services. It also
highlights our continued drive for cost and production efficiencies through
scale and planning. We expect these assets to provide key synergies with our
existing operations within a short period of time.'