UGG announced that it has signed a letter of intent respecting an agreement to purchase the ongoing business and selected assets of Eastbank Agro Ltd., a crop input retailer located in the Outlook area of Saskatchewan. Eastbank Agro has been in business for 20 years and sells fertilizer, seed and crop protection products to both irrigation and dryland farmers in an area outlined by the South Saskatchewan River to the south and west and Highway 11 to the east.

UGG will relocate current Eastbank assets to a new site along Highway 15, east of Outlook and
will centre its customer service for the region out of that location. The full range of UGG
services, including Proven Seed, anhydrous and dry fertilizer, crop protection products and
grain merchandising, will be offered. UGG previously operated grain and crop input facilities at
Glenside and Hanley.

"This new relationship gives UGG a strong base of operations from which to meet the business
needs of local customers,'' said Skip Vermeulen, UGG Regional Manager for northern
Saskatchewan.

Current owners, Grant and Keith Carlson will continue to operate their own farm and special
crop processing business and will not be joining UGG.

"We're really excited about this sale to UGG. With features like Production Credit and the AIR
MILES reward program, our customers will enjoy added value from a solid company,'' said
Grant Carlson of Eastbank Agro.

The purchase of Eastbank Agro is expected to be completed by March 1999, subject to the
signing of a purchase agreement and satisfaction of due diligence conditions. Terms of the deal
are not being disclosed.

UGG is one of western Canada's largest agribusiness firms. Founded in 1906, the Winnipeg
based Company is diversified into grain merchandising, crop input sales and distribution,
livestock production services and farm business communications. UGG is publicly traded on the
Toronto Stock Exchange and Winnipeg Stock Exchange, under the symbol ``UGG''.

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