Blackford Capital Moves Offices

October 1, 2001 - Aliso Viejo, CA, -- Blackford Capital today announced that it is moving from its offices from Chicago to Aliso Viejo, California, in order to focus on its first acquisition, Quality Imaging Products, based in Lake Forest, California. Martin Stein, President, Blackford Capital, will take a leave of absence from Blackford Capital to join QIP as the company's CEO and help lead the company's growth strategy. Blackford Capital is aggressively seeking opportunities to expand QIP geographically and into other segments of the imaging supplies industry through additional add-on acquisitions.

Blackford Capital invests in middle-market manufacturing companies of industrial products in both mature and growing industries. The firm is particularly interested in investment opportunities where existing management teams are retiring or where key executives need to be added. Blackford Capital's limited Partners include Tim Solso, Chairman and CEO of Cummins Engines, the world's largest manufacturer of diesel engines; Steve Wheelwright, former Senior Associate Dean, Harvard Business School; Adrian Slywotzky, Vice President, Mercer Management Consulting, and selected by IndustryWeek as one of the six most influential thinkers in business today along with Peter Drucker, Bill Gates, Andrew Grove, Michael Porter, and Jack Welch; and Michael O'Connell, Managing Director and President of Anhalt, O'Connell & Steffanci, an investment management firm with over $800 million under management.