H.I.G. Capital, a Miami based private equity firm with over $1 billion of equity capital under management, announced that it has completed the sale of Republic National Cabinet Corporation

MIAMI – December 27, 2002 – H.I.G. Capital, a Miami based private equity firm with over $1 billion of equity capital under management, announced that it has completed the sale of Republic National Cabinet Corporation (“RNCC”), based in Marshall, Texas to The Cypress Group (“Cypress”), a private equity firm based in New York. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

With annual revenues of approximately $200 million, RNCC is one of the nation’s largest providers of kitchen and bathroom cabinetry, offering a full range of designs and product lines through kitchen and bath dealers, distributors, homebuilders, and company-owned outlet centers. RNCC, which markets its products under the Republic, Legacy, Cabico, Eurocraft and Sunshine brand names, operates ten manufacturing facilities located throughout the United States and Canada.

H.I.G. recapitalized RNCC in 1998 in partnership with Gene Ponder, its founder and CEO, and the RNCC management team. Since then, the RNCC management team implemented a comprehensive and highly successful growth and profitability improvement plan, which included completing three strategic acquisitions, expanding geographically, and redesigning several facilities. Charles Hanemann, Managing Director at H.I.G, said, “We are very proud of the success of RNCC, which has realized tremendous growth and has continued to refine its business model as an industry leader with an outstanding reputation for delivering quality, on-time products to its customers. We could not have asked for a better partner in Gene and the rest of the RNCC team.”

H.I.G. Capital, a leading private equity investment firm, has a controlling interest in over 50 companies with combined revenues in excess of $4 billion. With offices in Miami, Atlanta, Boston, and San Francisco, H.I.G. specializes in the acquisition of leading middle market companies with strong growth potential.