Investor Relations

WILMINGTON, Mass., June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL) announced its initial public offering of 14,000,000 shares of its common stock on Friday, June 23 at an initial public offering price of $16.00 per share. All of the shares were offered by the Company. The shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CRL". Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and Lehman Brothers acted as joint lead managers of the offering, and ING Barings, SG Cowen, U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray and DLJdirect Inc. acted as co-managers. The Company has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to 2,100,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. The net proceeds from the offering will be used to reduce Charles River's existing indebtedness. Additional information about this offering is available in the Company's prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, is a leading provider of critical research tools and integrated support services that enable innovative and efficient drug discovery and development. Charles River is the global leader in providing the animal research models required in research and development for new drugs, devices and therapies and has been in this business for more than 50 years. Since 1992, the Company has built upon its research model technologies to develop a broad and growing portfolio of biomedical products and services. The Company offers a wide array of services that enable its customers to reduce costs, increase speed and enhance productivity and effectiveness in drug discovery and development. Charles River's customer base spans over 50 countries and include all of the major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as many leading hospitals and academic institutions. The Company currently operates 53 facilities in 15 countries worldwide.

Copies of the final prospectus related to the offering may be obtained from Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, 277 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10172, Phone: (212) 892-3000; Fax: (212) 892-7272. This announcement shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state. SOURCE Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.

CONTACT: James C. Foster, President & Chief Executive Officer, or Thomas F. Ackerman, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, 978-658-6000, or Dennis R. Shaughnessy, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, 978-658-6000, ext. 1438, or ir@criver.com, all of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc./