Ampex Corp. to Acquire Majority Interest in Web Services Affiliate.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 1999--Ampex Corp. (Amex:AXC) today announced that it intends to acquire a majority interest in the capital stock of Reiter Associates Inc., increasing its holding from the approximately 20 percent level that it purchased in September 1998.

Privately held Reiter Associates, with servers located in the Philadelphia, Washington, and Northern California areas, is a rapidly growing provider of turnkey services for enterprises that use the world wide web to achieve their strategic business objectives. Reiter Associates' services include electronic commerce support, web hosting, Internet consulting and monitoring.

"The additional funds from Ampex will enable us to accelerate our growth nationally and to add new services," stated Carl Reiter, president and chief executive officer of Reiter Associates.

"A part of the new investment will be used to establish a network operations and monitoring center. This is vital to maintain quality as we expand geographically, and it allows us to support and participate in Ampex's strategy for expansion in web-related markets," he said.

Edward Bramson, chief executive officer of Ampex, stated, "Associating with Carl and his talented team brings us a key capability for building our presence in the web-based market area.

"From its beginning, Reiter Associates has shown a commitment to leadership in quality of technology and service that is distinctive in such a young, innovative company. This is our main reason for choosing Reiter to work with."

Ampex Corp., a pioneer in audio, digital video and digital image processing, has participated in the evolution of the Internet since the origins of the system in the 1980s. The company is building a marketing-oriented organization to leverage its digital image technology and expertise internally and through selected strategic investments.

The company's goal is to develop integrated audio, video, and electronic commerce offerings for delivery over the world wide web. "By establishing an early market presence in broadband web applications," Bramson stated, "we are positioning ourselves to expand the range, content and quality of our offerings in line with future increases in the availability of high-speed Internet access."

Terms of the Reiter Associates investment were not disclosed.

Ampex Corp., headquartered in Redwood City, is one of the world's leading providers of technologies for the acquisition, storage and processing of visual information. Today, Ampex is delivering digital image solutions for large-scale corporate, government, network, entertainment and telecommunications applications.

During its more than 50-year history of innovation, Ampex has been granted thousands of patents and numerous awards for technical achievement. Ampex customers include such leading organizations as AT&T, CNN, Federal Aviation Administration, Fox Television, Netcom, and Prevue Networks.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties and unforeseen circumstances that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, those mentioned in the company's 1997 Annual Report in Form 10-K, its quarterly reports in Form 10-Q for 1998 and its Annual Report in Form 10-K for 1998, which is expected to be filed later in the quarter. Additional specific factors that could prevent the company from realizing any benefits from its world wide web-based initiatives discussed above include: future demand for the services of Reiter Associates and its ability to obtain and manage resources for growth from its present size and to become profitable; Ampex's ability to transfer audio or video technology to web-based applications; its ability to find and consummate suitable strategic investments; to coordinate the strategy of such entities; to resolve conflicts arising from the ownership of less than all of such entities; future demand for web-based audio, video and e-commerce services; and the ability of Ampex or its investees to obtain the managerial, technical or other resources necessary to provide such services or to do so while generating a profit. If Ampex's strategy for the development of world wide web-based activities is implemented, it is likely that significant expenses would be incurred which could cause the company to report material losses in future periods. Such losses could negatively affect the price of the company's securities in future periods and could require it to obtain additional capital, which may be unavailable on satisfactory terms or at all.