April 5, 2017 (Boston, MA) – Covington Associates LLC, a leading middle market investment bank announced its role as exclusive advisor to Nathaniel Group, Inc., a leader in original design manufacturing (ODM) of high-complexity medical illuminators, on the sale of its assets to Necsel, a leading laser and laser solutions company. Necsel’s parent company is Ushio America, Inc., a leading manufacturer of Specialty and General Illumination lighting solutions.

Tom Cibotti, Managing Director at Covington Associates commented, “We are pleased to have been given the opportunity to work with Nathaniel Group and are excited to see the next advancements in laser-based systems.”

Necsel, a leading laser and laser solutions company, has acquired effectively all of the assets of Nathaniel Group Inc. (NGI), a leader in original design manufacturing (ODM) of high-complexity medical illuminators. Joel Melnick, founder and CEO of NGI, stated, “I am pleased to have overseen the growth of the company from its inception to being a leader in high-complexity medical illuminators. The company’s primary focus has transitioned to laser-based illuminators that can enable the smallest endoscopes in the world with the best illumination possible.”

“The combination of Necsel (with its parent company, Ushio America, Inc.) and NGI further creates the capability to extend NGI’s product range and further utilize our global footprint and sales support. This acquisition will increase our know-how and strengthens our IP portfolio in the medical equipment space. Also, by gaining a medically certified ISO-13485 facility, it will help us serve our customers better and deliver solutions that they want in the medical and life sciences markets. We are excited to join the companies to create with our customers the next generation of laser-based systems,” said William Mackenzie, President and CEO of Ushio America and Necsel.

About Covington Associates LLC

Covington Associates is an investment banking firm offering advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”), capital raising, strategic advisory, fairness opinions, and valuations to middle-market companies across the Healthcare, Business Services, Consumer & Industrial, and Technology verticals. Founded in 1991, with offices in Boston, the vision for Covington has been to provide clients with the highest caliber of senior-level attention and to remain an advice driven and results focused organization. Since its inception, Covington Associates has completed more than 200 transactions globally for both private and publicly traded companies totaling over $15 billion.

About Necsel IP, Inc.

Necsel IP, Inc. develops and manufactures lasers and laser solutions for the projection, endoscopes, bio instrumentation, industrial and life sciences marketplaces. The company’s cost effect solutions provide these applications additional performance, such as brighter sources, higher contract ratios, longer lifetimes, and allows the creation of products that were never possible before. Necsel’s business model includes high-level customer interaction and co-development to rapidly advance its customer’s technology capability and product performance. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley, CA with manufacturing facilities worldwide. To learn more about Necsel, visit www.necsel.com.

About Ushio America, Inc.

Ushio America, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of Specialty and General Illumination lighting solutions based in Cypress, California. Established in 1967 as a subsidiary of Ushio, Inc., in Tokyo, Japan, USHIO now carries over 2,500 General Lighting and Specialty products. These Lighting-Edge Technologies™ are provided to a variety of industries such as general illumination, audio-visual, photographic, stage, studio and television, semiconductor, printed circuit, video projection, cinema, UV curing, germicidal, horticulture, graphic arts, flashlight, scientific, medical, dental, ophthalmic, infra-red heating, and many others. For more information, visit www.USHIO.com.

About Nathaniel Group, Inc.

Nathaniel Group Inc. (NGI) is a leading Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) of optical and illumination systems and fiber optics devices for endoscopes and other medical devices, scientific, imaging, and specialized electronics. Nathaniel Group is headquartered in Vergennes, Vermont, USA, and operates via a global customer support network. The company’s unique onshore sourcing business approach (engineered – assembled – delivered) is supported by technology integration, allowing NGI to respond quickly to new developments, apply the technology to manufacturing challenges, and expedite device manufacturing in high volume. More information is available at www.nathaniel.com.