North American Fund III Acquires Polymer Design Corporation

CHICAGO, IL (March 21, 1997). North American Fund III announced today that it has acquired Polymer Design Corporation of Rockland, Massachusetts. Terms of the transaction were not announced.

Polymer Design Corporation specializes in rapid-turn-around, low-volume production of complex, high-performance plastic parts using its unique Liquid Resin Casting™ process. With this process, Polymer Design is able to produce parts that duplicate the appearance and performance of highly-engineered injection molded plastic parts. Although piece part costs are higher than for injection molding, tooling costs are substantially lower and first articles can be obtained much more rapidly than for injection molding (typically 2-4 weeks vs. 10-20 weeks for injection molding). Thus, Polymer Design's Liquid Resin Casting™ process is an attractive alternative to injection molding when anticipated production volumes are low, when lead time to have prototype or production parts is critical, or when the design still could be changing. Polymer Design produces parts for customers in many industries, especially manufacturers of medical equipment and devices, scientific and environmental instrumentation, semiconductor equipment, and computer and electronics equipment.

Polymer Design was founded in 1979 by two brothers, Jim and Sam Snyder. In March 1996, both died in an airplane accident. Since then, the founders' wives have co-owned the company. In the face of last year's tragedy, the company's remaining managers and employees resolved to successfully continue operations. As a result, 1996 turned out to be the best year in the company's history.

"Although we are sad to see our association with the Snyder families come to an end, we are very enthusiastic about this acquisition," says Martin R. Hanley, Polymer Design's current President. "All employees are remaining with the company, and we will continue operations in our existing facilities. North American provides us the opportunity and the financial capacity to grow through internal expansion and complementary acquisitions to provide our customers a wider range of services."

Charles L. Palmer, North American's President states, "The Snyders built a fine business at Polymer Design. We are impressed with the company's technology base and technical innovation, its focus on quality, and its commitment to strong customer relationships. We believe that by taking advantage of important ongoing developments in rapid prototyping and broadening its production process capabilities, Polymer Design will be able to better service its customers as those customers increasingly outsource design/prototyping/low-to-medium volume production activities. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with the company's current management team to further develop the company's substantial potential."

North American Fund III is one of the North American Funds, which are partnerships of institutional investors with approximately $115 million in equity capital that specialize in acquiring small businesses with annual revenues of $5 million to $35 million and developing them into significantly larger enterprises. Investors in the Funds are a select group of prestigious investors that includes Ameritech's pension trust, American Family Mutual Insurance Company, the University of Texas System's endowment funds, and other major institutional investors. North American, headquartered in Chicago, has acquired fifteen companies in a wide variety of industries since its formation in 1989 and plans to acquire additional companies that fit its objectives.