Providence, Rhode Island - January 4, 1999 - Textron Inc. today announced that all regulatory approvals required for the sale of Avco Financial Services to Associates First Capital Corporation have been received and that it expects an early January closing.

Textron announced in August that it had reached an agreement with The Associates to sell Avco for $3.9 billion in cash. Net after-tax proceeds to Textron will approximate $2.9 billion. Up to 40% of the after-tax proceeds from the sale will be used to repurchase Textron shares, while the remaining 60% will fund acquisitions. Since the sale was announced, Textron has repurchased more than 10 million shares and acquired two companies with revenues exceeding $500 million.

"We are pleased that this important sale is proceeding as scheduled," said Textron Chief Executive Officer Lewis B. Campbell. "1998 is coming to a strong close for Textron, and we remain comfortable with the consensus estimates of $2.68, which represents a 22% increase over 1997."

"We are very well-positioned to deliver another strong year in 1999," Campbell continued. "The underlying strength of our businesses, combined with the full-year benefit of recent acquisitions, position us to deliver double-digit revenue growth and continued operating margin improvement. In addition, our results will benefit from the redeployment of the proceeds from the sale of AFS. Although our acquisition pipeline is full, we are not relying on these potential acquisitions to meet our growth and earnings goals for 1999."

Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) is a $10 billion, global, multi-industry company with market-leading operations in Aircraft, Automotive, Industrial and Finance.

Forward-looking Information: Certain statements in this Report, and other oral and written statements made by Textron from time to time, are forward-looking statements, including those that discuss strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; or project revenues, income, returns or other financial measures. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and statements, including the following: (i) continued market demand for the types of products and services produced and sold by Textron, (ii) changes in worldwide economic and political conditions and associated impact on interest and foreign exchange rates, (iii) the level of sales by original equipment manufactures of vehicles for which Textron supplies parts, (iv) the successful integration of companies acquired by Textron.