H.I.G. Capital’s Lexmark Carpet Mills Announces Combination with Northwest Hospitality Carpets

H.I.G. Capital, LLC (“H.I.G.”), a leading global private equity investment firm, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Lexmark Carpet Mills, Inc. (“Lexmark”) has completed the acquisition of Northwest Carpet, Inc. (“Northwest”). Lexmark is a leading manufacturer of broadloom carpet for hospitality, residential and niche commercial applications, which was acquired by an H.I.G. affiliate in September 2013.

The combination brings together two long-standing businesses in the hospitality segment and will create the innovative leader in the hospitality carpet sector. The combined business has decades of design and manufacturing expertise and will focus on continuing to provide best-in-class quality, customer service and design capabilities to the hospitality community.

Todd White, CEO of Lexmark, said, “Northwest represents an attractive acquisition as we continue to grow our business. There are significant synergies and opportunities to enhance our design and service capabilities for our customers.”

Ricky Stokes, Managing Director of H.I.G. Capital, said, “Northwest is an industry leader with a long track record of producing high quality, design-focused broadloom carpet targeted exclusively at the hospitality market. Northwest and Lexmark are highly complementary businesses. We are pleased to support the team in their growth and continued success.”

Randy Coker, President of Northwest, added, "We are excited to partner with Lexmark. The combination will allow us to expand our product offerings, design capabilities and custom options, reduce our lead time, and ultimately better serve our customers.”

About Northwest Hospitality Carpets

Founded in 1977 by Randy Coker and his father, Edward Coker, Northwest Hospitality Carpets is a leading manufacturer of solution-dyed, broadloom carpet focused exclusively on the hospitality end-market. Northwest’s manufacturing operations are located in Dalton, GA. For more information, visit www.northwestcarpets.net.

About Lexmark Carpet Mills

Founded in 1993, Lexmark Carpet Mills is a leading producer of broadloom carpet for hospitality, residential and niche commercial applications. The Company’s vertically-integrated manufacturing capabilities, state-of-the-art equipment and unsurpassed customer service distinguish Lexmark as a leading specialty mill that is capable of producing quality custom, highly-styled nylon and polyester carpet with industry leading turnaround times. For more information, visit www.lexmarkcarpet.com.

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with more than $17 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:

1. H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.

2. H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.

3. Other H.I.G. funds invest in various real assets, including real estate and shipping.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.

* Based on total capital commitments to funds managed by H.I.G. Capital and its affiliates.

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