Hughes creates Mergers & Acquisitions Department

Hughes Supply Inc., Orlando, FL, announced the creation of the department of Strategic Business Development/Mergers & Acquisitions and the appointment by the Company's Board of Directors, effective March 18, 2003, of J. Stephen Zepf to head the department. Mr. Zepf's new office of Senior Vice President of Strategic Development/Mergers & Acquisitions will represent a shift in the responsibilities for Mr. Zepf, presently the company's Chief Financial Officer. The new department will consolidate tasks, currently managed through several departments, including the identification, evaluation, pricing, closing and integration of strategic acquisitions; and the negotiation, establishment and implementation of strategic alliances. As plans for the department evolved it became clear that the Company required an executive officer to implement its business plan. In this regard, it was determined that the most qualified person for this task was Mr. Zepf. While this represents a shift in responsibilities for Mr. Zepf, the office will include tasks that Mr. Zepf has been involved with during his 19 years as Chief Financial Officer.

David Hughes, the company's CEO said, "Steve played a key role during our period of acquisitions in the 1990's. Steve participated in every acquisition completed by Hughes (over 90 acquisitions). He has an in-depth understanding of each operating unit and therefore he is particularly well suited to help us strategically improve our operations across all product lines. Steve is excited about the new position and the opportunities it will afford him to focus entirely on acquisitions and strategic alliances." In his new role Mr. Zepf will report directly to Tom Morgan, the company's President and Chief Operating Officer.

Hughes Supply also announced today the appointment of David Bearman to the offices of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. The appointment will take effect on March 18, 2003. Mr. Bearman most recently served as Chief Financial Officer for NCR Corporation (Dayton, Ohio) from 1998 to 2001 where he participated in investor relations, mergers and acquisitions and restructuring initiatives along with complete finance function responsibilities. NCR manages a large selection of technology products and services, including data warehousing solutions, financial self-service solutions, retail store automation solutions, systemedia, and payment and imaging solutions.

Prior to his tenure at NCR Mr. Bearman was CFO of Cardinal Health, Inc. (Dublin, Ohio) where he worked from 1989 to 1998. Cardinal is involved in the distribution of medical products. While at Cardinal Mr. Bearman was Chief Financial Officer during a period in which Cardinal experienced remarkable growth and grew from $700 million in annual sales to in excess of $20 billion in annual sales. He played a critical role in investor relations, debt and equity offerings, information technology, and distribution operations.

From 1970 to 1989, Mr. Bearman worked for General Electric Company (Fairfield, CT), where he held various positions, including Chief Finance and Information Systems Executive for GE's Medical Systems business unit (1986- 1989); Chief Finance Executive for GE's Electrical Distribution and Control business unit (1984-1986).

David Hughes stated that "the Board is enthusiastic about Mr. Bearman joining Hughes and we are excited about the skills and experience that he will bring to the Company. Mr. Bearman has a long history of accomplishments and we believe that he will be a wonderful addition to the Hughes family of employees."

Hughes Supply, Inc. is a wholesale distributor of construction and industrial materials with 455 locations in 34 states. For additional information on Hughes Supply, visit http://www.hughessupply.com.