New York, NY (December 23, 2003) -- KPS Special Situations Fund II announced today that it has completed the acquisition of the remaining operating assets of Atchison Casting Corporation (Atchison) out of bankruptcy. Under the terms of the asset purchase agreement, KPS formed a new company - AmeriCast Technologies, Inc. - to purchase five business units of ACC for approximately $40 million.

KPS has invested approximately $55 million in the transaction, including interim working capital financing for AmeriCast between the closing of the transaction and the final placement of an asset-based lending facility. KPS has also concluded new, five-year labor agreements with the United Steelworkers of America and the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers International Union that will help AmeriCast makes substantial capital investment in the company's assets.

The Atchison acquisition constitutes the third KPS transaction in the past six months and the fifth company that KPS has acquired out of bankruptcy.

About Atchison

Atchison is a world leader in the design, manufacture and supply of highly-engineered steel and iron sand castings, machined components and assemblies. Atchison casts large and difficult-to-manufacture parts and is a critical supplier to Fortune 50 manufacturers in the locomotive, mass transit, mining, agricultural equipment, construction, energy and heavy-duty truck industries. KPS will acquire five Atchison business units through AmeriCast: Atchison Steel Casting & Machine based in Atchison, Kansas and St. Joseph, Missouri; Amite Foundry & Machine based outside of New Orleans, Louisiana; Prospect Foundry based in Minneapolis, Minnesota; London Precision Machine and Tool based in London, Ontario; and ACC Global based in Houston, Texas.