ShoreView is pleased to announce the successful sale of Axygen, Inc. to American Capital Strategies.  This transaction highlights what has been a very successful relationship between ShoreView and Axygen’s founding shareholder and management.  ShoreView partnered with Axygen through a recapitalization transaction in April 2003.

Prior to ShoreView’s investment, Axygen’s owner was looking for a financial partner with merger and acquisition expertise to help grow the Company externally, and to provide capital to support internal growth initiatives.  ShoreView structured a transaction that:

• Provided partial liquidity to the shareholders
• Allowed management to retain day-to-day operating control of the business
• Created an ownership incentive plan for key executives
• Gave the founder a substantial “second bite at the apple” (opportunity for second liquidity event)

ShoreView then worked with Axygen to:

• Build a new North American manufacturing facility
• Make five add-on acquisitions
• Access low-cost manufacturing capacity both in China and Poland

The results of this partnership were exceptional.  Axygen increased its market share worldwide, and its revenue more than tripled and cash flow quadrupled in three years.

About Axygen, Inc.

Axygen is a manufacturer of proprietary, high-end plastic laboratory consumable products sold into the life sciences industry. Products include pipette tips, microtubes, filter tips, separation columns, and various other plastic laboratory consumables. The products are used by pharmaceutical development labs, crime labs and academic labs.

About ShoreView Industries

ShoreView Industries, based in Minneapolis, manages a $300 million private equity limited partnership.  ShoreView invests this partnership in established, middle-market companies with operations in North America, across a wide range of industries. ShoreView structures a variety of acquisition, recapitalization and build-up transactions, typically in businesses with revenues ranging between $20 million and $150 million.