Acquisition Strengthens Gibraltar's Metal Building Products Business in the West

BUFFALO, NEW YORK (July 1, 1999) - Gibraltar (Nasdaq: ROCK) today announced that it has acquired K&W Metal Fabricators, doing business as Weather Guard Building Products. Weather Guard is a Denver, Colorado-based manufacturer and distributor of a full line of metal building products for industrial, commercial, and residential applications.

Weather Guard, which operates a 90,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility in Denver, had 1998 sales of approximately $11 million. The company was formed in 1970 and has 65 employees.

The company's product line includes rain-carrying systems (gutters and gutter accessories), metal roofing and roofing accessories, and assorted other products (such as soffit and fascia). Weather Guard's products are manufactured in a variety of materials including galvanized steel, painted steel, copper, and aluminum. It also distributes seamless gutter and roof panel machines produced by a number of manufacturers.

"Weather Guard is an excellent complement to our four other building products companies (Southeastern Metals, Solar, Appleton Supply Company, and United Steel Products). It significantly expands our geographic coverage in the West, it further broadens and diversifies our customer base, and it solidifies our position as a national manufacturer and distributor of a complete line of metal building products. And like all of our acquisitions, we anticipate that it will immediately enhance our earnings per share," said Brian J. Lipke, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

"Our United Steel Products acquisition (in June of 1998) gave us our first facilities on the West Coast (with plants near San Francisco and Los Angeles). The addition of Weather Guard to our growing family of companies strengthens our business in the West, and gives us a strong presence in the fast-growing Rocky Mountain region. This part of the country is experiencing a huge building boom, and we expect that will help drive the growth of Weather Guard for many years to come," said Mr. Lipke.

"Weather Guard's product line is a perfect fit with the other companies in our building products business. As we continue to integrate the various plants, manufacturing capabilities, products, and customer relationships, the many synergies among these companies should accelerate the overall growth of this part of our company, while spurring growth at each of the individual companies," said Mr. Lipke.

"Because Weather Guard's plant is running a single shift - whereas most of our other facilities run three shifts to maximize capacity utilization - we believe there are opportunities to grow their top line with a nominal investment in plant and equipment.

"We are pleased that Mike Rich, Weather Guard's President, and his entire management team have agreed to stay with the company and work with us to accelerate its growth. We look forward to building on their record of success.

"This was our second acquisition in 1999, and tenth in the last four years. All of these immediately accretive acquisitions have allowed us to build on our core competencies, expand and diversify our customer base, extend the reach of our company into many of the country's fastest-growing geographic and steel-consuming markets, and improve and stabilize our margins. We will continue to be very selective and only acquire those companies that meet our strict criteria," said Mr. Lipke.

Information contained in this release, other than historical information, should be considered forward-looking, and may be subject to a number of risk factors, including: the impact of changing steel prices on the Company's results of operations; changing demand for the Company's products; the impact of the Year 2000 issue; and changes in interest or tax rates.

Gibraltar is a growth-oriented company, with expanding operations in the building and construction products, metal processing, and commercial heat-treating markets. The Company serves more than 9,000 customers in a variety of industries. It has approximately 2,800 employees and operates 46 facilities in 19 states and Mexico.