For more information please contact:

John Bolduc
Managing Director
jbolduc@bayside.com

Adam Schimel aschimel@bayside.com

Bayside Capital, Inc.
1001 Brickell Bay Drive
Miami, Florida 33131
(305) 379-8686

BAYSIDE CAPITAL ACQUIRES AKRION INC.

NEW INVESTMENT TO ENHANCE CUSTOMER SUPPORT AND SPUR GROWTH

MIAMI, FL – October 8, 2008 – Bayside Capital, an affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, today announced that it has purchased substantially all the assets of Akrion, Inc., a leading provider of surface preparation systems to the semiconductor and solar industries. The transaction includes a major investment from Bayside and positions the company for growth in both the semiconductor and solar cleaning equipment markets. Customers will benefit from the transaction through new product introductions, enhanced service levels and expanded R&D.

"The transaction provides a long-term financial partner for Akrion Systems," said James S. Molinaro, President and CEO. "We have the resources to continue to provide superior support to existing customers while investing in research and development to grow both our batch-immersion and single-wafer product lines."

Bayside Capital, based in Miami, has a strong track record of improving the performance of independent companies. Members of the Bayside team will serve on Akrion System's board, while management will oversee day-to-day operations.

"Akrion Systems has a winning combination of proprietary technology, a global service team and deep customer relationships," said Adam Schimel of Bayside Capital. "The company will benefit from the growing importance of surface preparation as semiconductor device geometries shrink. The company is also helping the solar industry produce more efficient solar cells at a lower cost. With Bayside's investment and ongoing strategic and operational support, Akrion Systems is well positioned to become the premier provider of surface preparation systems to the solar and semiconductor industry."

About Akrion Systems

Akrion Systems is a provider of surface preparation systems, including single-wafer and batch-immersion cleaning tools for the semiconductor and solar industries. The company's products are used in the production of a diverse range of devices, including integrated circuits for DRAM, NAND Flash, Logic and MEMS as well as new and reclaimed semiconductor wafers, photomasks, and solar cells. Headquartered in Allentown, Pa., Akrion Systems's Allentown production facility is ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 certified. For further information, please visit Akrion's website at www.akrionsystems.com.

About Bayside Capital

Bayside Capital is an affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, a leading private equity investment firm specializing in acquisitions and recapitalizations of middle market businesses. Based in Miami, Florida, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, and San Francisco, the firm is one of the most active private equity investors in small and medium-sized companies. We have available in excess of $2 billion of committed equity capital to support our investment activities. Our investors include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, CSFB, Deutsche Bank and the endowments of Yale University, Columbia University and MIT. In the last decade, we have invested in over 50 companies with combined revenues of over $5 billion.