Gryphon and Ray Marcy Purchase Staffing Now in Partnership with Management

Gryphon Investors, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, announced that it completed the acquisition of a majority of the stock of Staffing Now, a leading provider of professional staffing services to small and medium-sized companies through 33 offices in the Midwest, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the U.S. CEO Ron Smith, President and CFO Mark Schaul and the rest of Staffing Now’s existing management team will continue to run the company and remain significant shareholders. Gryphon and Ray Marcy, the former Chairman and CEO of Spherion Corporation, will provide resources to support the company’s continued expansion through new office openings and selected add-on acquisitions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, Staffing Now was founded in 1998 by Ron Smith, a former Robert Half executive, and Mark Schaul, who partnered with George K. Baum Capital Partners to build a professional staffing company through add-on acquisitions and organic growth. As a result of their efforts, Staffing Now today ranks among the top 100 U.S. staffing companies and was recently named to Staffing Industry Analysts’ list of the fastest-growing private staffing companies in the U.S. The company provides temporary and permanent high-end office clerical and finance & accounting staffing to its clientele.

Staffing Now is the third platform acquisition made by Gryphon since the launch of its proactive investment initiative with Ray Marcy in the professional and healthcare staffing sectors. In August 2004, Gryphon and Ray Marcy acquired Nursefinders, Inc., one of the nation’s largest nurse staffing companies. Subsequent to that acquisition, Nursefinders acquired physician staffing companies Linde Healthcare and Kendall & Davis in July 2005 and Club Staffing, one of the U.S.’s largest allied healthcare staffing providers, in June 2006. In addition, Gryphon acquired Update Legal, the largest provider of temporary attorneys and paralegals in the U.S., in partnership with management in May 2005.

Nick Orum, Gryphon Partner and head of its Business Services Group, said “We believe companies such as Staffing Now will continue to benefit from their clients’ increasing use of temporary staff to address business fluctuations, reduce costs and recruit qualified professionals. Our investment in the company is a continuation of Gryphon’s efforts since 2003 to participate in the attractive growth of the professional staffing sector and support strong companies’ expansion of their market share.”

Ray Marcy added “We are delighted to be partnering with one of highest quality and most accomplished management teams in the industry, and we look forward to supporting their efforts to build a leading professional staffing firm with a national presence. Although Staffing Now is already one of the fastest-growing staffing companies in the U.S., we believe it has significant opportunities to accelerate its growth through new office openings and add-on acquisitions.”

Ron Smith previously served as an executive at Robert Half prior to founding Staffing Edge in 1992. After building Staffing Edge into a leading professional staffing company, Ron Smith sold the business and founded Staffing Now with Mark Schaul shortly thereafter in 1998. Ron Smith said, “We are very excited about the new relationship with Gryphon and Ray Marcy. Their deep experience in our industry made them very logical and attractive new partners for our company, and their commitment to help support our plans for growth was a critical part of our decision to work with them. Our entire management team shares my enthusiasm about our prospects for continued success together.”

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 Staffing Now

Founded in 1998 by former Robert Half executive Ron Smith, Staffing Now is a leading provider of temporary and permanent high-end office clerical and finance & accounting staffing, primarily to small and medium-sized companies. The company operates through 33 offices in the Midwest, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the U.S. Staffing Now ranks among the top 100 U.S. staffing companies and was recently named to Staffing Industry Analysts’ list of the fastest growing private staffing companies in the U.S.

Contacts

Contact for Gryphon:

Kristin Celauro

Owen Blicksilver Public Relations, Inc.
732-433-5200
KRISTIN@BLICKSILVERPR.COM

Contact for Staffing Now:

Tricia Boone

The MarcomGroup
770-887-3971
TRICIA@MARCOMGROUPINC.COM