For Immediate Release DATE: MARCH 1, 2001

S.P. Richards Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Genuine Parts Company (GPC:NYSE) and leading wholesale distributor of business and office supplies, announced today….

Two of the largest office product wholesalers in the world have announced their intention to cooperate in a pan-Atlantic alliance. S.P. Richards had sales of $1,350 million in the United States and Canada, and Spicers had sales of $700 million in the UK, Ireland, France and Germany this past year.

The alliance will extend across a number of their business activities including support of mutual customers, information technology sharing, best practices, benchmarking and other strategic cooperation activities.

Bob Scribner, President and Chief Operating Officer of S.P. Richards commented, "Spicers is a clear leader in European wholesaling and I am delighted to align our efforts with theirs in a number of strategic initiatives. Our arrangement with the well-managed Spicers will benefit both companies as well as our customers in the future. It will allow us to monitor trends in the European marketplace as well."

Chief Executive of Spicers, Bill Armstrong, commented, "The trend towards globalization of both our customers and suppliers has made inevitable a closer working relationship between wholesalers in Europe and North America. We have established a good rapport with our opposite numbers in S.P. Richards and are looking forward to working with each other. Having an opportunity to work with S.P. Richards provides a clear window into the North American marketplace and will help to more quickly adopt trends that are important to the European marketplace."

S.P. Richards Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Genuine Parts Company (GPC: NYSE), distributes a wide spectrum of business products to office products resellers throughout the U.S. and Canada. These products include consumable office supplies, office furniture, computer supplies, consumer electronics, and facilities supplies from all of the major industry manufacturers. S.P. Richards Company markets several private label lines under the brand names of Sparco, Nature Saver, Compucessory, and Elite Image. The company operates 44 Distribution centers in the United States and Canada, including Horizon USA, its computer supplies subsidiary and Norwestra, a Canadian based Business Products Wholesaler.

Genuine Parts Company is a diversified distribution and services company that operates four wholly owned subsidiaries. The Company is a leading distributor of automotive replacement parts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico; industrial replacement parts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico through its Motion Industries subsidiary; office products nationwide in the U.S. and Canada through its S.P. Richards Company subsidiary; and electrical and electronic components throughout the U.S. and Mexico through its EIS, Inc. subsidiary. Genuine Parts Company had 2000 revenues of $8.4 billion