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Laurentian Bank and Textron Financial Announce a Business Alliance to Benefit their Clients

Montreal, June 28, 2001 -- Laurentian Bank of Canada and Textron Financial Canada, Limited, a subsidiary of Textron Financial Corporation, today announced they had entered into a business alliance that will benefit the client companies of both parties.

Under the terms of the agreement, Textron Financial Canada will offer asset-based financing of $2 million to $30 million to Laurentian Bank clients across Canada. For its part, Laurentian Bank will offer its complete range of commercial banking products and services as well as access to its Interac network and blcenterprise.com web site to current and future clients of Textron Financial Canada on an exclusive-provider basis.

For Richard Guay, Laurentian Bank's Executive Vice-President, Commercial and Corporate Banking, the agreement will benefit each company's clients by expanding their offer of financial products and services. "The business alliance opens new doors to financing for our mid-market clients whose rapid growth requires a sizeable investment in working capital," he said. "They can now take advantage of Textron Financial Canada's expertise in asset-based financing. Textron Financial Canada clients will be able to benefit from the quality of our customer service, an expanded service menu and our made-to- measure banking plans."

Textron Financial Canada also emphasized the importance of the agreement. "Having provided asset based and other financing products to U.S. and Canadian customers for 22 years, we will now provide this lending expertise to Laurentian Bank clients," said Chris Sadler, President, of Textron Financial Canada. "At the same time, our clients will enjoy the convenience of electronic deposit and withdrawal capabilities and access to the Bank's Internet deposit system, which will simplify their business transactions in Canada and the United States."

Commercial and Corporate Banking at Laurentian Bank has developed business relations with a large number of medium-sized companies in Canada. The agreement with Textron Financial Canada is consistent with its strategy to develop strategic alliances for the purpose of offering Canadian companies the products and services that best meet their needs. The business line's unique approach based on relationship banking makes it a leader in commercial financing in Canada. For more information, visit the Commercial Banking Web site at www.blcenterprise.com.

Textron Financial Canada is a subsidiary of Textron Financial Corporation. With US$8.2 billion in owned and managed receivables, the diversified commercial finance company supports the sale of Textron and third- party products and provides specialized financial products and services. Textron Financial is a subsidiary of Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT), a US$13-billion global, multi-industry company. The address of Textron's Web site is www.textron.com. The Textron Financial web site is www.tfc.textron.com.

Founded in 1846, Laurentian Bank ranks seventh among Canadian Schedule I banks, with assets of over $17 billion. The Bank offers highly competitive products and superior personalized service to meet the banking and financial needs of individuals and small and medium-sized businesses. The Bank's common shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: LB). The address of the Bank's Web site is www.laurentianbank.com.