H.I.G. Capital Holds $450 Million Final Closing on Fund III

Miami, FL – June 24, 2002 – H.I.G. Capital, the Miami-based private equity firm announced today that it has successfully raised its third buyout fund, H.I.G. Capital Partners III. The fund held its first and final closing on May 31, 2002, with aggregate commitments totaling $450 million.

With offices in Miami and Atlanta, H.I.G. currently manages over $1 Billion of equity capital. It is one of the most active private equity firms in the U.S. investing in small and middle market companies. Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has acquired more than forty companies with combined revenues exceeding $4 billion.

H.I.G. generally focuses on middle-market transactions where it is able use the operating expertise of its principals to improve the performance of its portfolio companies, according to Sami Mnaymneh and Tony Tamer who co-founded H.I.G. and continue to serve as its Managing Partners. With respect to Fund III, Mr. Mnaymneh commented: “We are very pleased that our fundraising process went as smoothly as it did, particularly in this economic environment. We were able to close the fund in less than four months from the time we first announced it.” Mr. Tamer added: “We generated a high degree of interest among both existing and new investors which resulted in an oversubscribed level of demand. We decided to keep the size of the fund at $450 million rather than increasing it to a larger number, so we can stick to our strategy of focusing on small and middle-market companies.”

Investors in H.I.G.’s new fund include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), Wilshire Associates, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA), Allianz AG, Liberty Mutual, JP Morgan Chase, and Verizon Communications.

H.I.G.’s investing activities will continue to include: (i) acquisitions of privately-held companies and non-core subsidiaries of larger companies; (ii) investments in companies requiring recapitalization or growth capital; and (iii) restructurings. These investments will typically be made through controlling or influential minority positions in companies with revenues between $20 million to $250 million.