02/12/2010

Schools and junior rugby clubs across the North West have had their efforts to nurture young talent and promote the game of rugby union given a boost as Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK) and Printerland announce their latest partnership to promote sport and fitness to young people. Sale Sharks and its official sponsors, Lexmark and Printerland, are unveiling the Printerland.co.uk Promote Rugby Programme which offers young rugby union fans a choice of exciting rugby experiences including:

Complimentary tickets to a Sale Sharks home match

A photograph of their team on the pitch at half-time Coaching sessions each month from Sale Sharks players at local clubs and schools Grants for balls and other rugby equipment Lexmark printers for clubs and schools

To participate in the Printerland.co.uk Promote Rugby Programme, local schools and junior clubs simply need to send an email to community@salesharks.com explaining how they would use the grant to promote rugby. Grants will be awarded on a monthly basis with awards announced on the 15th of each month. Applications for support for the coming weeks are now being accepted.

Mike Brewer, Sale Sharks’ head coach said, “Having sponsors like Lexmark and Printerland who really care about nurturing rugby at a youth level is great news for the future of the game in the North West, and for young Sale Sharks fans. The players and I love the enthusiastic reception we receive when we run coaching sessions at schools. It’s a huge incentive for young players.”

Steve Purdy, country general manager at Lexmark UK, agreed, “It’s great to be able to offer these once-in-a-lifetime sporting experiences to young people across the North West. With the help of Sale Sharks and Printerland, we hope we can continue the region’s tradition of producing top class rugby players and fans, while at the same time promoting the benefits of teamwork and health and fitness to young people.”

James Kight, managing director of Printerland commented, “As official sponsor of Sale Sharks, we want to do all we can to promote the game in the region. Reaching out to schools and junior clubs and offering support to nurture young talent and enthusiasm is an excellent way of raising rugby union’s profile amongst young players.”

For further details, please visit the Printerland.co.uk Promote Rugby Programme website at http://www.salesharks.com/community-printerland.

About Lexmark

Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK) provides businesses of all sizes with a broad range of printing and imaging products, software, solutions and services that help customers to print less and save more. Perceptive Software, a stand-alone software business within Lexmark, is a leading provider of enterprise content management software that helps organisations effortlessly manage the entire lifecycle of their documents and content, simplifying their business processes, and fueling greater operational efficiency. In 2009, Lexmark sold products in more than 170 countries and reported approximately $4.0 billion in revenue. To learn more about Lexmark, please visit www.lexmark.co.uk.