7 April 2004
Richards Packaging Income Fund Closes $85.7 Million Initial Public Offering

TORONTO, April 7 /CNW/ - Richards Packaging Income Fund (TSX: RPI.UN) (the "Fund") announced today that it has completed an initial public offering of 8,569,913 trust units ("Units") at a price of $10.00 per Unit for gross proceeds of $85,699,130. The offering was made through a syndicate of underwriters led by CIBC World Markets Inc. and National Bank Financial Inc. and included RBC Dominion Securities Inc., TD Securities Inc., GMP Securities Ltd., Scotia Capital Inc. and Westwind Partners Inc.

The Fund's Units have commenced trading today on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol 'RPI.UN'. The Fund will make monthly distributions of its available cash to unitholders to the maximum extent possible. The initial cash distribution for the period from the closing of the offering to April 30, 2004 is expected to be paid on or before May 15, 2004 and is estimated to be $0.0626 per Unit.

The net proceeds from the offering, together with a drawdown under a new credit facility, will be used to, among other things, acquire the operating company, Richards Packaging Inc., from its existing securityholders and to pay down all existing indebtedness.

Richards Packaging Inc. was acquired in November 2002 by a group led by Gerry Glynn, Richards Packaging's current Chief Executive Officer, with financing led by EdgeStone Capital Partners, Canada's leading independent merchant bank focused on the mid-market.

This press release will not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy Units, which may be made only by means of the prospectus, nor will there be any sale
of the Units in any state, province or other jurisdiction in which that offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that state, province or jurisdiction. The Units have not been, and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from the registration requirements under U.S. securities laws.

About Richards Packaging
Richards Packaging is a full-service packaging distributor targeting small-and medium-sized North American businesses. Richards Packaging has operated for over 90 years and currently serves over 6,000 regional food, wine and spirits, cosmetic, specialty chemical, pharmaceutical and other companies from 15 locations throughout North America.

For further information, contact

Gerry Glynn
Chief Executive Officer
Richards Packaging Inc.
T: 905.624.3391
Email: gglynn@richardspackaging.com