News

May 6, 2002

Avail Medical Acquires Horizon Medical With Capital From Norwest Mezzanine Partners

Company Achieves Product and Customer Expansion Through Acquisition

Norwest Mezzanine Partners announced today its investment in Horizon Medical, Inc. of Orange County, California. Horizon represents a merger with Norwest Mezzanine¹s existing portfolio company, Avail Medical Products, Inc. Closed on May 6, 2002, the transaction consisted of $3 million in senior subordinated notes with warrants and approximately $250,000 in junior subordinated pay-in-kind notes.

“We consider Horizon Medical a strong strategic fit for Avail Medical with their significant core customer relationships, management depth and design/development capabilities,” notes Jim Breckenridge of UBS Capital Americas. “Norwest Mezzanine¹s support for this transaction continues to validate Avail¹s premise of seeking growth opportunities through merger, acquisition and integration.” UBS Capital Americas is the private equity sponsor for both Avail Medical and Horizon Medical.

According to Michael Hall, partner at Norwest Mezzanine, “Horizon is an excellent match for Avail¹s business criteria. With the integration of Horizon¹s management team and product offering diversification, Avail Medical will further solidify their position as a premiere contract manufacturer in the disposable medical products industry.”

Avail Medical was formed in 1995 to execute a strategy of becoming a premier outsourced manufacturer for the disposable medical products industry. The company designs custom, disposable medical products for original equipment manufacturers, providing a wide range of services that reduce manufacturing costs and compress lead times. Avail employs over 2,000 people at its eight ISO 9002-certified facilities located in California, Texas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Mexico.

Horizon Medical was founded in 1987 with an initial focus on developing new products for the medical industry. In 1999, Horizon changed its strategic focus to concentrate solely on contract manufacturing and building its infrastructure in medical device manufacturing, engineering design and process control. Today, the company offers complete product design and development through sub-assembly and finished product manufacturing. Horizon employs over 270 people at its primary facility in Santa Ana, California.

Norwest Equity Partners (NEP) is a leading middle market investment focused on partnering with business owners and building companies into industry leaders. With a reputation for quality investments and exceptional financial returns since 1961, NEP manages nearly $5 billion of capital through a series of equity and mezzanine funds. Offering creative and flexible transaction solutions through management buyouts, recapitalizations and growth financings, NEP seeks $30-$150 million equity investment opportunities for growing and profitable companies within the agriculture, applied technology, business services, consumer products and services, distribution, healthcare and industrial industry sectors. NEP is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota; please visit nep.com for more information.