FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Aug. 18, 2000

AlliantLink.com Partners with Oinke to Provide a Commercial Financing Center Through the AlliantLink.com Shopping Mall

DEERFIELD, Ill., Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- AlliantLink.com, Inc., the Web-based order-entry and service delivery company of Alliant Exchange, Inc., has signed an agreement with Oinke, Inc. to provide commercial loans to customers through a private branded commercial finance center in the AlliantLink.com Shopping Mall.

The agreement will enable AlliantLink.com restaurant, hotel, healthcare and other foodservice customers to obtain financing quickly by putting their financing requests up for auction to Oinke's network of 160 lenders. The system is expected to debut on October 1, 2000.

"We are pleased to offer customers this opportunity to utilize secure reverse-auction technology to very quickly and easily obtain hassle-free financing at favorable rates," says Barbara G. Moss, senior vice president and chief operating officer, AlliantLink.com. "The AlliantLink.com Financial Auction powered by Oinke is another in a series of agreements that will provide even greater value to AlliantLink.com customers by enabling them to consolidate their purchases of goods and services with one-stop shopping."

"Oinke responds to the financing needs of America's next generation companies," said Thomas Markel, chairman and CEO of Oinke, Inc. "We look forward to providing the one-source commercial financing center for AlliantLink.com's customers. The financing requirements of AlliantLink.com's business customers represent new opportunities for Oinke's network of lenders, who look to Oinke for faster, more efficient, and less expensive financing sources. We are delighted that AlliantLink.com has joined the growing list of top companies offering the 'Powered by Oinke' solution."

Oinke, Inc. provides the only Internet-based real-time commercial finance center connecting business borrowers with 160 qualified lenders in a secure auction environment. Its standardized on-line Auction Summary Application Package forms simplify the borrowing process for 63 different loan types, dramatically reducing typical loan paperwork and facilitating negotiations with a worldwide pool of lenders including Wall Street firms, insurance companies and finance companies. Oinke specializes in loans ranging from $5,000 to $500 million. Oinke, headquartered in Irvine, California, was founded in September 1999. Strategic partners include Moody's Risk Management Services, Integra Information and Trans Union.

Alliant Exchange is one of the nation's largest business-to-business e-commerce and information exchange companies, with annualized sales of more than $6.5 billion. The company, one of the largest privately held enterprises in the U.S., has three operating subsidiaries -- Alliant Foodservice, Inc., a leading broadline foodservice distributor; The Drescher Corporation, a foodservice distribution company; and AlliantLink.com, Inc., an Internet-based service that provides 24/7 access to a catalog of more than 165,000 foodservice items, equipment, related supplies and value-added services.

SOURCE Alliant Exchange, Inc.