SALT LAKE CITY, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Franklin Quest Co. (NYSE: FC), a
leading provider of training seminars and the creator of the Franklin Day
Planner, and Covey Leadership Center, whose products include books, seminars,
videos, corporate consulting and training programs based on the international
best sellers, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and "Principle-
Centered Leadership," today announced the closing of their merger.
    The merged company, to be known as Franklin Covey Co., will have fiscal
1998 revenues in excess of $500 million, making it, arguably, the largest
entity in the corporate training industry.  Franklin Covey operates more than
100 retail stores, and has a client base that includes 82 of the Fortune 100,
more than two-thirds of the Fortune 500 companies, thousands of midsize and
small companies, government entities, educational institutions, communities,
families and millions of individual consumers.
    "This merger will allow both companies to better meet the challenges of a
fast growing global market, which is demanding products and programs that
increase productivity and develop leadership and life skills," said Stephen R.
Covey, Co-Chairman of Franklin Covey.  "Our organizations share a common
philosophy and approach based on our mutual belief in the power of principles
to improve individual and organizational effectiveness.  We anticipate
continued success based on a portfolio of proprietary concepts and
intellectual property assets that have proven their value in the marketplace.
We intend to apply our organizational expertise to our own merger, thereby
creating a model merger for corporate industry."
    "Franklin Covey plans top create added value from synergy," said Hyrum
Smith, Chairman and CEO of Franklin Covey.  "We look forward to exploring and
taking advantage of the many areas of synergy that exist so naturally between
our companies.  To this end, we started months ago to guide the integration of
our companies by writing an interim mission statement that all associates of
both companies participated in.  We have also established numerous synergy
teams that have already integrated and aligned the structure and leadership of
the new company so we will hit the ground running as the merger closes.  The
purpose of this process is to generate operational savings as well as
increased revenues and shareholder value as result of these synergies over
time."
    On the consumer side of the business, Franklin Covey's retail stores are
located in top retail centers throughout the nation.  The stores will be
renamed:  Franklin Covey: The 7 Habits Store, to leverage the brand equity and
wide recognition of the 7 Habits name.  The stores and catalog provide
products that meet the growing demand for tools for effective living.
    The merger strategically positions Franklin Covey as the leading complete
solutions provider to aid organizations in aligning their strategies with
proven principles.  The Company hopes to be particularly valuable to clients
who want to accelerate the benefits of their mergers and acquisitions.
Franklin Covey will provide a broad range of curriculum including leadership,
time management, team building, business development, business and technical
communication, change management, productivity, strategic alignment and custom
solutions.
    Clients will have access to Franklin Covey curriculum through consulting
services, personal coaching, custom on-site training, and client facilitated
training, as well as open enrollment training offered in over 300 cities in
North America and 40 countries worldwide.  Educational and training
implementation tools, including the Franklin Day Planner, the 7 Habits
Organizer and a broad offering of audio and video tapes, books and computer
software enable clients to retain and effectively utilize educational and
training concepts and skills.
    Jon H. Rowberry, President of Franklin Covey Co., said, "Our clients have
responded with a high level of enthusiasm to the news of this merger.  Clients
of both Covey and Franklin, including United Parcel Service, Marriott, Allied
Signal, NationsBank, Bell Canada, WalMart, Starbucks and Brunswick feel that
the combined Franklin Covey company will become an even more significant
resource for their training and educational needs."
    Franklin covey has more than 15 million students and individuals using
agendas, organizers and planners, training products and materials printed in
28 languages throughout the world.  Franklin covey has more than 12 million
books in print with more than 1.5 million being sold each year.  "Business
Week" magazine lists Franklin covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People" as the #1 best selling trade business book for the year 1996 and its
"First Things First" time management book as #3.  The newly released Japanese
translation of "The 7 Habits" is a #1 best seller in Japan as reported in the
"Nikkei" business magazine.  Franklin Covey has more than 7,000 licensed
client facilitators teaching its curriculum within their organizations and
trains in excess of 750,000 participants annually in training seminars
teaching principles to help them become more effective.
    "The unique market niche of Franklin Covey will be the development and
distribution of intellectual property products, training and educational
services, combined with the Franklin Day Planner and the 7 Habits Organizer,
powerful implementation tools for such concepts," said Messrs. Covey and
Smith.  "We believe this merger will position Franklin Covey as the dominant
global provider of the content, training and educational programs and
implementation tools necessary to increase individual client productivity and
help institutions build highly skilled, high trust, high performance
organizational cultures."
    Franklin Covey will introduce two books this year: "The Power Principle:
Influence with Honor" by Dr. Blaine Lee in May and "The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective Families" by Stephen R. Covey in October.

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