Philip Pellegrino to Resign From Rayovac Board of Directors; Will Continue in Consulting Role

MADISON, Wis., April 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rayovac Corporation (NYSE: ROV) announced today that Director Philip F. Pellegrino is resigning from its Board of Directors effective March 31, 2004. At that time, Mr. Pellegrino will enter into a consulting agreement with Rayovac, under which he will provide advice and leadership in the areas of global sales, customer relationships and business integration.

Mr. Pellegrino has been a director of Rayovac since November of 2000, serving as a member of both the audit and compensation committees. He recently announced his retirement from Kraft Foods, where he served as senior vice president and president of sales, after a forty-year career at Kraft in various management and executive positions.

"As a director of Rayovac, Phil has provided extraordinary support in the continuing transformation of our company to a global diversified consumer products company," said Rayovac chairman and CEO David Jones. "I look forward to the opportunity to benefit from Phil's extensive experience and expertise in global sales, customer service and sales integration in a more direct hands-on role within the Rayovac organization."

The company is in an active search to fill Mr. Pellegrino's board seat. Current board members include David A. Jones, chairman and chief executive officer, Kent J. Hussey, president and chief operating officer, Thomas R. Shepherd, John S. Lupo, Barbara S. Thomas, William P. Carmichael and Neil P. DeFeo.

Rayovac Corporation is a global consumer products company with a diverse portfolio of world-class brands, including Rayovac, VARTA and Remington. The Company holds many leading market positions including: the world's leader in hearing aid batteries; the top selling rechargeable battery brand in North America and Europe; and the number one selling brand of men's and women's foil electric razors in North America. Rayovac markets its products in more than 100 countries and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ROV symbol.

Certain matters discussed in this news release, with the exception of historical matters, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause results to differ materially from those anticipated as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially from these statements as a result of (1) changes in external competitive market factors, such as introduction of new product features or technological developments, development of new competitors or competitive brands or competitive promotional activity or spending, (2) changes in consumer demand for the various types of products offered by Rayovac or Remington, (3) changes in the general economic conditions where we do business, such as stock market prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates, inflation and raw material costs, (4) our ability to successfully implement manufacturing, distribution and other cost efficiencies and (5) various other factors, including those discussed herein and those set forth in Rayovac's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K.

SOURCE Rayovac Corporation