FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sami Mnaymneh
Founder/ ManagingPartner
H.I.G. Capital, LLC
(305) 379-2322


Steve Martinez
H.I.G. Capital, LLC
(305) 379-2322

H.I.G. CAPITAL ACQUIRES TEAM PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL

January 17, 2003 - H.I.G. Capital, a Miami-based private equity firm, announced today that it has acquired a majority interest in Team Products International, Inc. Team Products designs, directly sources, imports and distributes a wide variety of consumer products. The Company's products, sold under proprietary and licensed brand names such as Coleman Powermate, Sunbeam and Emerson, are distributed primarily through mass market, automotive and home improvement retailers. The Company, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, has built a dedicated design, quality assurance and product sourcing staff in Asia and a dedicated sales force management infrastructure in the United States. Team Products generated over $70 million in net revenues in 2002.

In announcing the transaction, Stephen Levine, Team Products' President and CEO, said, "We are very excited to partner with H.I.G. Capital to facilitate our growth. With the added financial, operational and strategic support that H.I.G. offers its portfolio companies, we will build upon our position as an innovative consumer products company. Specifically, this partnership will allow us to expand existing product lines, acquire additional brand licenses and further broaden our customer base."

Sami Mnaymneh, Managing Partner of H.I.G. Capital, stated: "Team Products is a terrific business with tremendous growth opportunities and a great business model. The Company possesses the critical ingredients for meaningful growth in this market, including a highly experienced management team, world-class product sourcing and innovative product design. Consequently, we are extremely excited about our investment in Team Products."

H.I.G. Capital is a leading private equity and venture capital investment firm with more than $1.5 Billion of equity capital under management. Headquartered in Miami and with additional offices in Atlanta, Boston and San Francisco, the firm specializes in providing capital to small and medium sized companies with attractive growth potential. H.I.G. invests in management-led buyouts and recapitalizations of profitable and well managed manufacturing or service businesses, and in promising early-stage technology companies. H.I.G. also has extensive experience with financial restructurings and operational turnarounds. Since its founding, H.I.G. Capital has completed in excess of 70 transactions. The firm currently manages a portfolio of more than 40 companies with combined revenues in excess of $5.0 Billion.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.