The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved the sale of substantially all of Ivaco Inc.’s assets to an affiliate of Heico LLC in accordance with the Purchase and Sale Agreements previously announced. The transaction is expected to close before year end.

The Court also approved the sale of the assets of Ivaco Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary IMT Corp. The sale of IMT Corp. assets is expected to be completed in mid-September 2004.

Mr. Randall Benson, Chief Restructuring Officer, said: “This is another significant step in the path to complete the restructuring of Ivaco. We are pleased that the Court has endorsed this sale transaction and we look forward to completing the remaining requirements to close as quickly as possible.”

The Court has extended the period of Court protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) until December 15, 2004.

Ivaco is a Canadian corporation and is a leading North American producer of steel, fabricated steel products and precision machined components. Ivaco's modern steel operations include Canada's largest rod mill, which has a rated production capacity of 900,000 tons of wire rods per annum. In addition, its fabricated steel products operations have a rated production capacity in the area of 350,000 tons per annum of wire, wire products and processed rod, and over 175,000 tons per annum of fastener products.