Trivest, Inc. Portfolio Company WinsLoew Furniture, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Brown Jordan International, Inc

Business Wire, May 9, 2001

Business Editors

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2001

Trivest, Inc., through its affiliate, WinsLoew Furniture, Inc. ("WinsLoew"), announced today that it has acquired Brown Jordan International, Inc. Brown Jordan International, Inc. is the parent company of Brown Jordan Company and Casual Living Worldwide. Brown Jordan, El Monte, CA, is a leading designer, manufacturer, and marketer of casual furniture targeting the premium segment of the casual furniture market, while Casual Living Worldwide, Oxnard, CA, is a leading producer in the value-priced segment of the casual furniture market.

The combination of WinsLoew and Brown Jordan creates a clear market leader in the casual furniture industry with approximately 22% of the market. Their products serve a broad spectrum of markets and price points, and significant opportunities exist to drive synergies in sales, marketing and operations.

The purchase price was in excess of $100 million. Additionally, WinsLoew's existing senior secured credit facility was refinanced. The new $225 million Senior Credit Facility was arranged by CIBC World Markets and co-arranged by Antares Capital, GE Capital and Heller Financial. New equity of $54 million was invested in the transaction, $41 million of which was provided from partnerships controlled by Trivest.

Earl W. Powell, Trivest's Chairman and CEO, commented: "The Brown Jordan name has tremendous brand recognition within its distribution channels, and clearly complements WinsLoew's existing brand names. This acquisition supports our strategy of actively seeking complementary businesses which expand the breadth of existing product lines. The momentum created by this acquisition and other recent acquisitions further enhances WinsLoew Furniture's position as one of the industry's most respected producers of leading brand names in casual, contract and hospitality furnishings. With pro forma annual revenues approaching $400 million and pro forma cash flow in excess of $70 million, WinsLoew will be among the 10 largest furniture companies in America.

"Brown Jordan brings WinsLoew a California manufacturing plant and off-shore facilities located in Mexico and China. The strategic fit, both geographically and by market segment, is exceptional.

"Brown Jordan's management will be an important addition to the WinsLoew team. And their chairman, Michael Fourticq, will be joining the WinsLoew board of directors."

William F. Kaczynski, Jr., Trivest Managing Director, added: "Our financing agents did a terrific job in this tight capital market. We refinanced WinsLoew's $147 million Senior Debt with $205 million in new funded Senior Credit facilities, added $22 million in Subordinated Seller Notes and $54 million in new common equity. After the closing, WinsLoew's bank debt and publicly traded Senior Subordinated Notes totaled $311 million, or slightly more than four times pro forma cash flow."

WinsLoew Furniture, Inc. designs, manufactures and distributes commercial and casual furniture under the brand names Loewenstein, Charter, Lodging By Loewenstein, Stuart Clark, Woodsmiths, Winston, Pompeii, Texacraft, Tropic Craft, and Wabash. WinsLoew's corporate offices are located in Birmingham, Alabama with manufacturing facilities located in several states.

Brown Jordan Company designs, manufactures and distributes ultra-premium casual outdoor furniture including chairs, chaise lounges, tables, serving carts and umbrellas. Brown Jordan Company only markets its products under the Brown Jordan brand name, the most prestigious and recognized brand in the casual furnishings industry. Brown Jordan Company is headquartered in El Monte, California with an additional facility in Juarez, Mexico.

Casual Living Worldwide is the dominant supplier of patio furniture to the mass merchant market and one of a number of suppliers providing value-priced furniture to specialty retailers. Casual Living Worldwide markets its products under the Casual Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Shae Designs, Samsonite Aluminum, Samsonite Wrought Iron & Wood, Samsonite Elite and The Vineyard Collection brand names. Casual Living Worldwide is headquartered in Oxnard, California.

Trivest, Inc., a private investment firm, is a leading provider of equity for middle market corporate acquisitions, recapitalizations, and growth capital financings. Since its founding in 1981, Trivest has sponsored more than 110 acquisitions, recapitalizations and growth financings, totaling in excess of $2.0 billion in value. For additional information please visit www.trivest.com.