Acquisition of Interest

Yule Catto & Co PLC
10 July 2000

                                  Yule Catto
                       
                           Fine Chemical Investment in India

Yule Catto & Co plc announces the acquisition of 51% of the shares of Erie Chem
(Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of Chemiesynth Group, for a consideration of 42M Rupees
(circa £600,000).

Erie Chem, based in Vapi in the state of Gujarat, has a capability to undertake
a wide range of chemical syntheses including nitration, halogenation,
diazotisation, reduction and sulphonation and has become an important supplier
to Yule Catto of technically demanding multi-stage organic chemical
intermediates.  An investment of 40M Rupees (£550,000) will begin immediately to
further extend these capabilities.

The joint venture, soon to be renamed James Robinson India (Pvt) Ltd, will
report from a functional viewpoint to the management of James Robinson Ltd and
the board will comprise representatives of both parents.  The chairman will be
appointed by James Robinson and the appointment is announced of Mr Satish Zaveri
as Managing Director.  Mr Zaveri, a well-known figure in the Indian chemical
industry, is currently chairman of the Chemiesynth Group.

Sales and marketing activities for all Erie Chem products will be the
responsibility of the existing James Robinson team.

India has become increasingly important as a global player in the supply of
organic chemical intermediates, taking advantage of low overheads and investment
costs and Erie Chem is particularly favoured by being connected to a world scale
effluent treatment plant serving the chemical industry in Vapi.

Yule Catto believes that the recent liberalisation of trade practices in India
has created an opportunity to establish a manufacturing base which will be
extended to include a wide range of fine chemicals for use in pharma, dyestuffs,
photographic and related applications.