Gryphon Investors Sells Nursefinders to the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group

Gryphon Investors (“Gryphon”), a San Francisco private equity firm, confirmed that it sold its portfolio company, Arlington, TX-based Nursefinders, Inc. (“Nursefinders”) to The Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, Pharos Capital Group, LLC and Haas Wheat & Partners. The transaction will expand the healthcare staffing holdings of Goldman Sachs by joining Nursefinders with its existing portfolio company and travel nurse staffing leader, National Healthcare Staffing (NHS). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Gryphon Investors acquired Nursefinders, a diversified provider of nurse, allied health and physician staffing to hospitals, other healthcare facilities and home care clients throughout the U.S., in August 2004 in partnership with Kaiser Permanente and former Spherion CEO Ray Marcy. Under Gryphon’s ownership, Nursefinders expanded into the physician staffing sector with the acquisition of Linde Healthcare/Kendall & Davis in July 2005 and into the allied health staffing sector with the acquisition of Club Staffing in June 2006.

“We are proud to have helped transform Nursefinders from a leading nurse staffing company when Gryphon acquired it, to one of the largest U.S. healthcare staffing providers today with market leadership positions in nurse, allied health and physician staffing as well as a dominant market position in the fast growing Vendor Management Services (VMS) sector,” said Nick Orum, Gryphon Partner and head of its Business Services Group. “We are delighted that this sale will result in attractive returns for Gryphon and its partners and allow Nursefinders and its management team to partner with Goldman Sachs, one of the most well-respected and successful investors in the healthcare services sector.”

“We could not be more excited about the opportunity to partner with NHS and Goldman Sachs as we continue to build Nursefinders into the premier provider of healthcare staffing services,” said Bob Livonius, Nursefinders’ CEO. “NHS’ larger travel nurse staffing business complements Nursefinders existing travel nurse staffing offering, while the capital and healthcare expertise of Goldman Sachs, Pharos Capital Group, LLC and Haas Wheat & Partners will allow Nursefinders to accelerate its growth through acquisitions and on an organic basis.”

Piper Jaffray acted as the external financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal advisor to Nursefinders and Gryphon Investors. Greenberg Traurig acted as legal advisor to Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group.

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About Nursefinders, Inc.

Nursefinders, Inc., based in Arlington, TX, provides nursing, allied healthcare and physician placement services through its Nursefinders, Club Staffing and Linde Healthcare/Kendall & Davis brands. Through a network of over 100 offices, it serves hospitals, outpatient centers, assisted living and other health care facilities nationwide. It also provides home health services through 25 of its offices. The company places more than 14,000 health care professionals in long and short-term health care assignments each year. Visit www.nursefinders.com.

About Gryphon Investors

Based in San Francisco, Gryphon Investors focuses on leveraged acquisitions of, and growth investments in, middle-market companies in partnership with experienced management. Having managed more than $1 billion of discretionary equity capital, Gryphon has an extensive track record of investing $25 to $75 million of its own capital in companies with sales ranging from $25 to $250 million. Gryphon prioritizes investment opportunities where it can form proactive partnerships with owners and executives to build leading companies, utilizing Gryphon’s capital, professional resources and significant financial and operational expertise. Visit www.gryphoninvestors.com for more information.

About The Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group

The Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group is a private equity initiative within The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), that invests capital in ethnic minority-owned or targeted businesses and urban real estate. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. The firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world. Goldman Sachs also has offices in Miami, Florida and Dallas, Texas. To learn more about The Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, please visit www.gs.com/uig.

About Pharos Capital Group, LLC

Based in Dallas and Nashville, Pharos Capital Group currently has $500 million in capital under management through three private equity funds. Pharos primarily invests in companies seeking later stage equity funding for internal growth, acquisitions, management buyouts or recapitalizations across industry sectors, with particular focus on health care, business services, and applied technology. To learn more about Pharos Capital Group, LLC, please visit www.pharosfunds.com.

About Haas Wheat & Partners Incorporated

Haas Wheat & Partners is a Dallas-based private investment firm specializing in strategic equity investments and leveraged buyouts of middle market companies. Since 1984, Haas Wheat has invested across a broad spectrum of industries, with a particular concentration on healthcare and consumer products. To learn more about Haas Wheat, please visit www.haaswheat.com.

Contacts

for Nursefinders, Inc.:

Tricia Boone

Nursefinders, Inc.
770-887-3971
TRICIA@MARCOMGROUPINC.COM

for Gryphon Investors:

Lisa Baker

Owen Blicksilver Public Relations, Inc.
914-725-5949
LISA@BLICKSILVERPR.COM