USA: Einstein/Noah Bagel Corp. obtains court approval of sale of assets to affiliates of New World Coffee-Manhattan Bagel, Inc.

Einstein/Noah Bagel Corp. announced today that it has obtained bankruptcy court approval of the sale of substantially all of the assets of the Company and its majority-owned subsidiary, Einstein/Noah Bagel Partners, L.P. ("Bagel Partners"), to Einstein Acquisition Corp. and Greenlight New World, LLC, affiliates of New Jersey- based New World Coffee-Manhattan Bagel, Inc. ("New World"), for a purchase price consisting of $160 million in cash and the assumption of up to $30 million in liabilities. The New World affiliates were the successful bidder in an auction that was conducted on June 1, 2001 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix, Arizona.