ADESA, Inc. announced on September 20 that its majority stockholder, ALLETE, Inc., has completed the distribution of a stock dividend to all ALLETE stockholders. All ADESA shares previously owned by ALLETE were distributed.

As anticipated, one share of ADESA common stock was distributed to stockholders of record as of September 13, 2004 for each share of ALLETE common stock outstanding, resulting in a total distribution of 88.6 million shares of ADESA. The distribution was structured to qualify as a tax-free stock dividend to ALLETE shareholders and was done in book-entry form.

David Gartzke, chairman of ADESA, commented, "We are excited to have completed the full separation of ADESA from ALLETE. I believe ADESA is well positioned as a stand-alone company and I expect that the market will now better reflect the value of ADESA." Gartzke stepped down as chairman of ALLETE in conjunction with the distribution and now serves as ADESA's chairman, CEO and president.