Boston, MA – May 6, 2002 – Covington Associates, seasoned M&A advisors to technology and healthcare, today announced the sale of its client, Horizon Medical, Inc. (“Horizon”), to Avail Medical Products, Inc (“Avail”).  The merger between Avail and Horizon has created the nation’s largest outsourcing manufacturer of finished disposable, medical devices.  The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The companies decided to merge based on the complementary nature of their capabilities, a common vision about the growth of the medical outsourcing industry and a shared commitment to market leadership.  The combined companies presently serve 11 of the top 15 medical products manufacturers.  Consolidated sales for the combined companies will exceed $135 million during 2002.

J. Randall Keene will be the CEO of the combined entity.  “By joining forces, Avail and Horizon offer an unbeatable combination of design, development and manufacturing capabilities,” he said.  “Horizon is well respected for its product design and process development expertise.  The merger with Avail’s large-scale, highly efficient, low-cost manufacturing capabilities makes for a valuable combination that will benefit customers.”

William A. Goolsbee, CEO and co-founder of Horizon Medical, will stay on as a senior executive, becoming Executive Vice President of Avail.  “Randy and I share a common vision and strong desire to be the industry leader in this rapidly expanding medical outsourcing market,” Goolsbee said.

About Horizon Medical, Inc.

Founded in 1987 and based in Santa Ana, CA, Horizon provides outsource development and manufacturing services for the single-us medical products market.  Focused primarily on finished products ready for distribution, Horizon also offers a variety of services in the fabrication of sub-assemblies. Horizon’s core operations center on the development and manufacture of medical products employing a wide range of materials, process requirements, packaging configurations and sterilization methods.  To learn more about Horizon Medical, visit www.horizonmed.com.

About Covington Associates

Covington Associates are seasoned M&A advisors to technology and healthcare. Focused exclusively on mergers and acquisitions, Covington Associates has established a track record of success based on deep domain experience and an unrivaled level of service from a team of senior advisors. Since 1991, the firm has successfully completed over 50 transactions ranging in size from $10 million to over $1 billion in the technology and healthcare sectors. To learn more about Covington Associates, visit www.covingtonassociates.com.