Ampex Files for Chapter 11

Ampex Corporation
announced that on March 30, 2008, Ampex Corporation and its U.S.
subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of
the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Prior to filing, the Company negotiated with
and obtained the support of the majority of its secured creditors and
its largest unsecured creditor for the terms of a pre-negotiated plan
of reorganization (the "Plan"), as evidenced by the plan support
agreement filed contemporaneously with the Company’s voluntary
petitions for relief under Chapter 11. Concurrently with the
commencement of these cases, the Company filed a motion for approval of
the disclosure statement with respect to the Plan and related
solicitation procedures. The Company believes that it will emerge from
Chapter 11 no later than Fall 2008. During the Chapter 11 proceedings,
the Company will continue to operate its business without interruption
as a debtor-in-possession. All of the Company’s employees will be
retained, offices and manufacturing facilities will remain open and all
customer support and warranty programs will continue as planned.

Upon
emergence from Chapter 11, Hillside Capital Incorporated ("Hillside"),
the Company’s largest secured and unsecured creditor, will provide new
financing to the Company that will be used for working capital
purposes, to repay certain long term obligations, including certain
senior secured notes, and to fund future pension obligations. Ampex
began to report in July 2007 that it might be forced to take this
action in order to facilitate an orderly financial restructuring.  As
was disclosed in its filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission over the previous months, Ampex has been negotiating a
consensual refinancing of certain notes that were issued to Hillside
over the past several years with respect to pension contributions made
by Hillside for the benefit of the Company’s defined benefit plans. The
Plan is the result of months of arm’s-length negotiations between the
Company, Hillside and holders of a majority of the face amount of the
Company’s senior secured notes.

The
overall purpose of the Plan is to provide for the restructuring of the
Company’s liabilities in a manner designed to maximize recovery to all
stakeholders and to enhance the Company’s financial viability by
de-levering the Company’s capital structure, providing additional
liquidity and arranging a long-term financing solution to future
pension contributions that does not over-leverage the Company in future
years. Under the Plan, it is contemplated that trade creditors will
remain unaffected and will continue to receive cash payments as their
claims become due in the ordinary course. Because the Company’s debt
exceeds the amount of its assets, its existing common stock currently
has no value, and therefore will be cancelled on the effective date of
the Plan. Under the terms of the proposed Plan, new equity in the
reorganized Company will be issued to certain creditors. Although
holders of existing common stock will not receive new equity under the
Plan, those holders that do not object to the Plan may be eligible to
receive some consideration. The Plan also contemplates that the new
equity in the reorganized Company will not be registered or traded on
any public exchange.

Ampex Conducting Business in the Ordinary Course

D.
Gordon Strickland, Ampex’s President and Chief Executive Officer, noted
that the court filing is not expected to have any significant impact on
Ampex’s day-to-day operations: "Ampex Data Systems Corporation will
continue to sell and service data acquisition and instrumentation
recorders and we will continue to license our intellectual property to
manufacturers of consumer digital video products.  While the
restructuring will be an important step towards a more successful
future, our primary focus will continue to be our customers and their
satisfaction with our products and services."

Mr.
Strickland explained, "In recent years, Ampex has been constrained by
its highly leveraged capital structure and by the continuing burden of
its significant legacy pension liabilities.  Quite simply, we have too
much debt.  We intend to use the Chapter 11 process to reduce these
obligations significantly and to develop and implement a new capital
structure that will allow us to invest in our business."

Mr.
Strickland concluded, "Fortunately, the fundamentals of our business
remain strong and provide an excellent foundation for the future. We
expect that Ampex will emerge from its Chapter 11 reorganization a
stronger, more financially viable company, well-positioned for
profitable growth."

Ampex
Corporation