CONTACT: AFL-CIO 
         Brandon Rees, 202/637-5313 
         Josh Mason, 202/637-3913 

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--JULY 27, 2000--In a letter to shareholders of Crown Central Petroleum, Crown Shareholders for Fair Value and the AFL-CIO urged a vote against Rosemore's acquisition offer.

"The Crown offer at $9.50 per share is totally inequitable and unrealistic in light of the company's $14.47 book value and its recent profits," says Crown Shareholders for Fair Value member Gregory Burkhardt, who owns 27,800 shares of Crown stock. The letter argues:

Improving market conditions indicate that the Rosemore bid is too low. In the first quarter of 2000, revenues grew 87 percent vs. Q1 1999, and Crown reported a operating profit of $0.7 million vs. an operating loss of $16.7 million in Q1 1999.

Moreover, Crown disclosed a net profit of $8 million for April and May; but Rosemore has left its $9.50 per share offer unchanged despite Crown's dramatically improved subsequent financial performance.

Crown's potential liquidation value could exceed the Rosemore bid. Based on data from the fairness opinions offered by Crown's advisor CFSB and Rosemore's advisor Aegis Muse, precedent transactions suggest that Crown's refineries alone could be worth $15.60 to $23.70 per share. In addition, Crown's retail gas stations could be worth another $14.79 to $16.48 per share.

A flawed bidding process may have deterred potential acquirers. During the auction process Crown adopted a poison pill preventing outside acquirers from tendering non-identical offers to Crown's dual classes of stockholders, refused to share information with the bidder Apex unless they promised to forgo any hostile bid, and failed to substantively disclose with whom else it entered talks. The Apex bid of $10.50 per share was rejected by Crown's Board of Directors.

"Fiduciaries of workers' retirement funds need to be particularly diligent when evaluating a proposed merger involving insiders" said Bill Patterson, director of the AFL-CIO's Office of Investment. The AFL-CIO Office of Investment provides research and support for collectively bargained pension funds. "What we're looking at is a sweetheart deal among insiders that enriches management at shareholders' expense."

Rosemore is a private company owned by the Rosenberg family. The Rosenbergs also own a controlling interest in Crown; however, a two-thirds majority vote of all shareholders is required to sell the company. The Rosemore offer will be voted on at a special shareholder meeting on August 24. A copy of the letter to shareholders is available at www.shareholdervalue.org or by calling 888/235-2465.