Olympus Partners announced today the pricing of an initial public offering of Symmetry Medical, Inc. The company offered 8,000,000 shares of its common stock at $15.00 per share. The shares will trade on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SMA.” Banc of America LLC and Credit Suisse First Boston LLC acted as joint book-running managers, and Piper Jaffray & Co. and Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC acted as co-managers of the offering. Symmetry Medical has agreed to sell up to an additional 1,200,000 common shares to the underwriters to cover over-allotments, if any.
Proceeds from the offering will be used to repay a portion of existing senior indebtedness and all existing subordinated indebtedness and to repurchase a portion of outstanding shares of preferred stock and preferred stock warrants.
The registration statement relating to the initial public offering of common shares has been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of such common shares in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state. The offering of these securities will be made only by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained from Banc of America Securities LLC. The offering of these securities will be made only by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained by contacting Banc of America Securities LLC, Capital Markets Operations (Prospectus Fulfillment), 100 W. 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001 – (646) 733-4166.
About Symmetry Medical Inc.
Symmetry Medical Inc. is an independent provider of implants and related instruments and cases to orthopedic device manufacturers. The company also designs, develops and produces these products for companies in other segments of the medical device market, including dental, osteobiologic and endoscopy sectors and provides limited specialized products and services to non-healthcare markets, such as the aerospace market. Symmetry is a portfolio company of Olympus Growth Fund III, L.P. and affiliated funds (“Olympus”). Olympus acquired control of Symmetry in a leveraged recapitalization in October 2000. In June 2003, Olympus provided funding for Symmetry’s acquisition of Mettis (UK) Ltd., a leading provider of implants and instruments to the global orthopedic device market. Olympus’ cost per common share is $4.30.
About Olympus Partners
Olympus Growth Fund III, L. P. is managed by Olympus Partners. Olympus Partners is a private equity firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, with assets under management of approximately $1.7 billion. Olympus Partners invests in leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and growth capital investments in middle-market companies throughout the United States and Western Europe. Since 1989, Olympus has invested in more than 50 portfolio companies. Rob Morris, Jim Conroy, and Manu Bettegowda represent Olympus on the Symmetry Board of Directors. Statements in this press release regarding Symmetry Medical Inc.’s business which are not historical facts may be “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see “Risk Factors” in the Company’s registration statement on Form S-1, as amended. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and Symmetry Medical Inc. undertakes no obligation to revise or update this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.