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Riverside Partners' investment brings Applied Precision new focus on strategic partnerships, increased sales and profits
ISSAQUAH, Wash. - February 1, 2002 - Riverside Partners, a Boston-based private investment firm, has taken a significant minority ownership position in Applied Precision, Inc. The investment provides the company with additional capital and better positions the company for continued growth. Applied Precision's current management team will remain in place. Applied Precision founder Ron Seubert assumes the role of chief executive officer, and three representatives from Riverside will join Seubert and Applied Precision's two other founders on the newly-formed Management Board. This investment was a planned step toward achieving Applied Precision's long-term growth and business development goals.
"This was an ideal solution for us," said Ron Seubert, founder and newly-appointed chief executive officer of Applied Precision. "Riverside's investment makes it possible for us to retain the qualities that make Applied Precision a successful company - our innovative products, our attention to service and quality, and our extraordinary management team - while adding a focus on business development, with the assistance of Riverside's expertise in this area."
As a minority owner, Riverside will have three seats on the new nine-seat Management Board, Applied Precision's three cofounders will have three seats, and the board will jointly appoint three other industry experts (from the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and semiconductor industries) to serve on the board. Although Riverside will not have any day-to-day management responsibilities in the company, Riverside Partners general partner David Belluck, as Applied Precision's key representative from Riverside, will assist the company with creating strategic alliances for business development, distribution and investment.
"Riverside is very excited to be a part of Applied Precision - the people, the products, the management team," said Belluck. "Applied Precision's management team has done an excellent job of researching and developing high-precision, high-quality biotechnology and semiconductor tools, and we will be adding a new focus on strategic partnerships."
"We are so pleased to work with Riverside, as they have a history of investing in new products and markets, and increasing sales and profits," added Seubert. "Our new structure brings the added resources we need to continue to grow and expand."
Applied Precision founder Don Snow has reduced his schedule to half time, and founder John Stewart retired in early January as planned, but both will serve on the Management Board. The company has restructured its ownership, and is now called Applied Precision, LLC. Applied Precision, LLC has assumed all of the assets and liabilities of Applied Precision, Inc.
About Applied Precision, LLC
Applied Precision develops measurement, analysis and process control systems for biomedical and biotechnology imaging and analysis systems (especially live-cell microscopy, genomics and proteomics), semiconductor wafer test, and precision motion control components. Applied Precision's specialized products are based on precisionwareTM, the company's unique convergence of mechanics, electronics, optics and software. Applied Precision, LLC has been enabling advancements in the world's core technologies since its inception in 1985. Applied Precision (www.appliedprecision.com) can be reached in the United States at (425) 557-1000 or in the United Kingdom at +44 1672 518350.
About Riverside Partners
Riverside Partners, Inc., founded in 1989, is a private investment firm that invests in leading closely-held companies serving the life science, healthcare and electronics industries. The principals of Riverside Partners have invested in more than 30 companies ranging in revenue from $10 million to $150 million. Riverside manages Riverside Fund II, L.P., a private equity fund. Its investors include major U.S. financial institutions, corporations, pension funds, universities, and entrepreneurs with whom Riverside has completed investments. More information about Riverside Partners is available at www.riversidepartners.com.
Contacts:
For Applied Precision
BRW LeGrand
Lisa Miller or Jason Rodman
Tel: 303.298.8470
E-mail: lmiller@brwlegrand.com
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