Description: 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.

Background/Purpose: In the years leading up to the transaction, the Company’s competitors and customers were undergoing rapid consolidation, and the Company’s strong growth was requiring increasingly higher levels of capital investment. In addition, Axygen's manufacturing facility was nearing capacity. Given these dynamics, the owner was looking for financial support and M&A experience to take the business to the next level while also retaining day-to-day operating control of the business. ShoreView structured a transaction that provided the owner with partial liquidity, allowed him to retain significant ownership, and created an incentive ownership plan for other executives in the company.

Growth Strategy:

• Leverage existing products and strong sales capabilities to increase the Company’s
  international presence
• Expand the Company’s product offering through continued investment in product
  development
• Aggressively pursue add-on acquisitions that broaden the Company’s product offering, distribution and manufacturing capabilities, or geographical footprint

Results:

• Sales and profitability have more than tripled
• Brand new manufacturing facility with additional capacity
• Completion of four complementary add-on acquisitions that have expanded the Company’s product offering, added strategic distribution capabilities, and expanded its base of low-cost manufacturing operations
• Company was sold to another financial buyer in the Fall of 2006, creating a substantial “second bite” of the apple for the founder