Harvest Partners Affiliate TPS Holdings Acquires Bartow Steel

Business Wire, May 6, 1998

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 1998--Harvest Partners affiliate TPS Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Thomas Pipe & Steel, Inc., announced today it has acquired for cash Bartow Steel, one of the nation's leading distributors of abrasive resistance pipe. Bartow will continue to be run by its current management team led by Richard Macey.

"Bartow is an ideal acquisition for TPS Holdings because it is another step toward our goal of becoming the leading nationwide distributor of pipe and steel," said Jay Roccaforte, CEO of TPS Holding Inc. "This acquisition adds $45 million to our consolidated revenues, increases our geographical presence and provides an entry into the mining market. By continuing our acquisition strategy, we expect to achieve proforma 1998 gross revenues in excess of $250 million. We will continue to seek other acquisitions across the country to take advantage of consolidation opportunities in the pipe and steel industry."

Bartow Steel, Inc., headquartered in Lakeland, Florida, stocks and distributes standard line pipe and abrasive resistance pipe, as well as structural steel components. The Company has additional sales offices in Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia as well as storage yards in New Orleans, Louisiana and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

TPS Holdings previously acquired Thomas Pipe & Steel in 1996 through a management buyout sponsored by Harvest Partners, to take advantage of the consolidation opportunities in the pipe distribution industry throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and South America.

Harvest Partners, Inc. is a private investment firm which focuses on management buyouts and growth financings of medium-size manufacturing, specialty services and distribution businesses.

Founded in 1981 by Harvey Wertheim and Harvey Mallement, Harvest is best known for its expertise in structuring multinational management buyouts and for its successful platform acquisitions. Harvest currently has approximately $600 million in capital under management from leading U.S. and multinational institutions, including Asea Brown Boveri, Volvo, an equity affiliate of Deutsche Bank, MassMutual, PPM America, and several leading public and private U.S. pension funds.

One of Harvest's most successful platform investments was the $49 million management buyout it sponsored of Career Horizons, Inc. (NYSE: CHZ), in 1990. Harvest realized a gain of approximately 11 times its invested capital when, in 1996, AccuStaff acquired Career Horizons in a transaction valued at over $900 million. Most recently, Harvest spearheaded the $90 million acquisition of Deflecta-Shield Corporation by Lund International Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LUND), a leading manufacturer of appearance accessories for light trucks, in which Harvest owns 48.6% of the voting Common shares and approximately 60% of the equity.

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