In late November 2007, the Governance Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors was informed by Mr. Langton and Mitchell Jacobson, the Company’s Chairman, that in February of 2007 Mr. Jacobson and members of his family formed a private investment company and employed Mr. Langton as an executive officer of that company. MSC has confirmed that this private investment company has not made any investments to date.

As a result of this employment, Mr. Langton ceased to be an “independent director”, as defined under the New York Stock Exchange listing standards, and therefore the Company was not in compliance with the independent director requirements of the New York Stock Exchange listing standards.

In addition to Mr. Langton’s resignation, the Company also noted the following additional changes to its Board of Directors:

• Denis Kelly, Chairman of the Governance Committee, has been appointed Chairman of the Compensation Committee.
• Philip Peller, Chairman of the Audit Committee, has been appointed Lead Director.
• Charles Boehlke, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, voluntarily resigned from the Board for the sole purpose of rebalancing the composition of the Board with a majority of independent directors.

The Company is now in compliance with the independent director requirements of the New York Stock Exchange listing standards. In addition, the Company’s Board of Directors now consists of five directors, of which three are independent directors.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct is one of the premier distributors of Metalworking and Maintenance, Repair and Operation (MRO) supplies to industrial customers throughout the United States. MSC distributes in excess of 550,000 industrial products from approximately 3,000 suppliers to approximately 390,000 customers. In-stock availability is approximately 99%, with next day, standard ground delivery to the majority of the industrial United States. MSC reaches its customers through a combination of over 30 million direct-mail catalogs and CD-ROMs, 95 branch sales offices, 814 sales people, the Internet and associations with some of the world's most prominent B2B e-commerce portals. For more information, visit the Company's Web site at http://www.mscdirect.com.