Server: Netscape-Enterprise/2.0a Date: Mon, 29 Dec 1997 19:15:58 GMT Content-type: text/html KINDERCARE - News



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DAVID JOHNSON TO BE NAMED CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF KINDERCARE

Montgomery, Al , December, 4, 1996, KinderCare Learning Centers, Inc. (NASDQ:KCLC) and KCLC Acquisition Corp., an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., announced today that David J. Johnson, 50, will succeed Sandra W. Scarr, Ph.D., as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, upon the closing of the acquisition of KinderCare by KCLC Acquisition Corp., which is anticipated to be in early 1997. Dr. Scarr, 60, who announced her intention to retire upon the closing of the acquisition, will continue at the Company as a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Johnson was most recently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Red Lion Hotels, Inc. The closing of the acquisition of KinderCare remains subject to the satisfaction of a number of conditions.

A KinderCare spokesman said, “We would like to thank Dr. Scarr for her contributions to the Company. We wish her well and look forward to her continued role on the Board of Directors.”

“KinderCare has established itself as the leading provider of proprietary child care in the United States and is poised to embark on what we believe will be a period of major growth,” said Mr. Johnson. “I look forward to joining KinderCare’s fine management team and to building on KinderCare’s strong foundation.”

“My first priority will be to gain a deep understanding of the people and practices that have made KinderCare such a success. Following the transition, I will be focused on further enhancing the high quality of our programs and facilities; supporting the management team and staff in developing innovative new programs; and working hard to take advantage of the significant opportunities for new growth -- both internally and through acquisitions -- that we see in the marketplace.”

Prior to joining Red Lion in September 1991, Mr. Johnson was a general partner of Hellman & Friedman, a private equity investment firm. From 1986 to 1988, Mr. Johnson served as President, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Dillingham Holdings, a diversified company with $2 billion in revenues. Mr. Johnson also has nine years experience in the consulting business working with a number of multi-unit service and retail businesses. He holds a degree from the University of Oregon and the University of Southern California Graduate School of Business. KinderCare is the largest provider of proprietary child care in the United States. At the end of the first quarter of fiscal 1997, under the banners of KinderCare Learning Centers, Inc., KinderCare at Work and Kids Choice, KinderCare operated 1,151 centers in 38 states and the United Kingdom with an enrollment of approximately 126,000 children and employed over 23,000 people. Children’s education programs include: toddler programs Look at Me! and Let Me Do It!; preschool programs My Window on the World and Once Upon a Time...; and the schoolage program KC Imagination Highway. KinderCare was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama.

CONTACT: Thomas D. Johnson, Jr., Director of Marketing and Investor Relations, 334-277-5090 or Philip L. Maslowe, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

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