Lifetime Brands Retires $49.9 Million Convertible Notes

GARDEN CITY, N.Y., Jun 17, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ: LCUT), North America's leading resource for nationally branded kitchenware, tabletop and home décor products, today announced it has agreed to purchase, in privately negotiated transactions, $49.9million principal amount of its 4.75% Convertible Senior Notes due July 2011. The purchase price was at 100.25% of the principal amount plus accrued interest and was funded with borrowings from the recently completed new credit facilities.

Prior to the purchase, the Company had outstanding $74.0 million principal amount of the Notes.

The Company will recognize a one-time, non-cash pre-tax charge of approximately $2.5 million or $0.12 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2010, representing the write-off of a portion of the deferred financing costs and debt discount related to the Notes.

Forward-Looking Statements

In this press release, the use of the words "believe," "could," "expect," "may," "positioned," "project," "projected," "should," "will," "would" or similar expressions is intended to identify forward-looking statements that represent the Company's current judgment about possible future events. The Company believes these judgments are reasonable, but these statements are not guarantees of any events or financial results, and actual results may differ materially due to a variety of important factors. Such factors might include, among others, the Company's ability to comply with the requirements of its credit agreement; the availability of funding under that credit agreement; the Company's ability to maintain adequate liquidity and financing sources and an appropriate level of debt; changes in general economic conditions which could affect customer payment practices or consumer spending; the impact of changes in general economic conditions on the Company's customers; changes in demand for the Company's products; shortages of and price volatility for certain commodities; significant changes in the competitive environment and the effect of competition on the Company's markets, including on the Company's pricing policies, financing sources and an appropriate level of debt.

Lifetime Brands, Inc.

Lifetime Brands is North America's leading resource for nationally branded kitchenware, tabletopand home décor products. The Company markets its products under many of the industry's best known brands, including Farberware(R), KitchenAid(R), Pfaltzgraff(R), Mikasa(R), Cuisinart(R), Calvin Klein(R), CasaModa(R), Design for Living(R), Gorham(R), Hoffritz(R), International(R) Silver, Kirk Stieff(R), Nautica(R), Pedrini(R), Roshco(R), Sabatier(R), Sasaki(R), Towle(R) Silversmiths, Tuttle(R), Wallace(R) and Vasconia(R). Lifetime's products are distributed through most major retailers in North America.

SOURCE: Lifetime Brands, Inc.

Lifetime Brands, Inc.
Laurence Winoker, 516-203-3590
Chief Financial Officer
investor.relations@lifetimebrands.com
or
Lippert/Heilshorn & Assoc.
Harriet Fried, 212-838-3777
Senior Vice President
hfried@lhai.com