BOSTON, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading mattress manufacturer Spring Air
has received $22 million in additional financing from H.I.G. Capital and
American Capital Strategies Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS) in order to provide the
company significant liquidity and growth capital to launch its exciting new
2008 product line.
In June 2007, H.I.G. Capital and American Capital together led the
consolidation of Spring Air and its major licensees. Since the
consolidation, the company has implemented a comprehensive plan to
dramatically improve quality, service and value for its customers. Most
importantly, the Company has developed a revolutionary product line, which
was introduced this week at the Las Vegas Furniture Market, the largest
bedding show in the nation.
At the show, Spring Air became the first in the industry to feature the
"Power Coil," a specially designed 9 inch innerspring exclusively developed
for one-sided mattresses. The "Power Coil" is comprised of three distinct
coil zones and supplies the entire innerspring with heavier gauge wire in
the center zone of the unit where the consumer needs the most support for
proper spinal alignment. The top zone features conforming coils to provide
comfort and to ease pressure points, the center zone provides extra support
to relieve back pain, and the bottom zone provides stabilization and
durability. In addition to the superior comfort features, the new
innerspring design increases the profile of the innerspring unit from six
to nine inches, creating greater durability and clearly demonstrating a
focus on comfort and value to the consumer.
Since much of the less durable foam and upholstery have been replaced
with a more durable tempered steel coil, the Power Coil design is far
superior to a traditional innerspring mattress, eliminating body
impressions and providing improved performance.
"This new capital will enable us to propel Spring Air forward,
completing our integration and creating the appropriate level of capital to
complete our new product launch," said Spring Air Chief Executive Officer
Bob Hellyer. "We are grateful to our vendors and suppliers, real partners
in business, for their patience and look forward to their on-going support
of our continued growth. We are now poised to deliver on our strategic plan
to make Spring Air the leading value "S" brand on every retail floor."
"H.I.G. Capital and American Capital are delivering this new infusion
of capital because we believe that the strategy of Bob Hellyer and his
management team is exactly the right formula for growth. The Company's new
product line will provide unmatched quality and performance at value price
points," said Peter Cornetta, a Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital and
Spring Air's largest shareholder. "The industry is responding very well to
Spring Air's initiatives and we are very pleased with the strides the
company and its management team have made."
"We are very pleased to support Spring Air's growth initiatives," said
Bowen Diehl, a Managing Director of American Capital. "The senior
leadership team of the company has done a wonderful job integrating
multiple independent companies into one unified organization, securing new
distribution, and at the same time developing some exciting new products
for the industry."
ABOUT SPRING AIR
Founded in 1926, The Spring Air Company is one of the world's largest
mattress manufacturing and distribution companies. Its well-known consumer
brands include: Back Supporter Classic and Four Seasons; Nature's Rest; and
Chattam & Wells.
ABOUT H.I.G. CAPITAL
H.I.G. Capital is a leading global private equity investment firm with
more than $4.5 billion of equity capital under management. Based in Miami,
and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, and San Francisco in the U.S., as well
as offices in London, Hamburg and Paris in Europe, H.I.G. specializes in
providing capital to small and medium-sized companies with attractive
growth potential. H.I.G. invests in management-led buyouts and
recapitalizations of profitable and well managed manufacturing or service
businesses. Since its founding, H.I.G. has completed more than 75
transactions. The firm's current portfolio includes companies with combined
revenues in excess of $7 billion. For more information, please refer to the
H.I.G. website at http://www.higcapital.com.
ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL
American Capital is the only alternative asset management company in
the S&P 500. With approximately $20 billion in capital resources under
management (1), American Capital is the largest U.S. publicly traded
private equity fund and one of the largest publicly traded alternative
asset managers. American Capital, both directly and through its global
asset management business, is an investor in management and employee
buyouts, private equity buyouts, and early stage and mature private and
public companies. American Capital provides senior debt, mezzanine debt and
equity to fund growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations and securitizations.
American Capital and its affiliates invest from $5 million to $800 million
per company in North America and euro 5 million to euro 500 million per
company in Europe.
As of December 31, 2007, American Capital shareholders have enjoyed a
total return of 452% since the Company's IPO, an annualized return of 18%,
assuming reinvestment of dividends. American Capital has paid a total of
$2.1 billion in dividends and paid $26.16 dividends per share since going
public in August 1997 at $15 per share.
Contact: Stan Steinreich
(201) 498-1600
SOURCE The Spring Air Company
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Related links:
http://www.higcapital.com
CONTACT:
Stan Steinreich, +1-201-498-1600, for The
Spring Air Company
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