Philadelphia, PA - May 15, 2005 -- Curtis Financial Group is pleased to announce the results of 2005 Private Equity Firms Survey of the Plastics Industry. Howard M. Snyder, Vice President and Leader of Curtis' plastics industry group, explained the basis for the survey "We found that many private business owners have little understanding of the dynamics of a private equity investments including how they operate and how they make their investment decisions. We contacted over 120 Private Equity Investment firms that have, or have recently had, investments in plastics processing companies to learn about their current perception of the Plastics Industry with the objective of providing insight to business owners."

The Survey addressed overall knowledge of the industry and the various types of processors, leading industry risks, and the most effective growth strategies used by their portfolio companies. Respondents also provided opinions on their minimum platform company revenue size, target margin criteria and current M&A valuations. Selected results from the survey are provided below:

Platform Company Threshold - 59% of respondents indicated that the minimum revenue they would consider for a platform company was $30 - $50 million.

Knowledge Levels Vary by Segment - Respondents are the most knowledgeable about injection molding followed by film & sheet extrusion and the least knowledge about expanded polystyrene and foam.

Private Equity Firms invest in what they know - Injection molding and rotational molding were listed as the most attractive segments followed by film & sheet extrusion and thermoforming.

Size Matters in Valuations - In today's market, our respondents would value an 'average' $25 million molder at 4.26x to 4.91x EBITDA while an 'average' $100 million molder would receive a valuation of 4.79x to 6.06x EBITDA representing a premium of 12-23%. Results were also compiled based on 'below average' and 'above average' performing processors.

About Curtis Financial Group, LLC
Curtis Financial Group, LLC is an investment banking firm based in Philadelphia, PA that advises middle market companies on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, raising capital, and provides fairness opinions, business valuations, and related corporate finance advisory services. Our professionals have completed merger and acquisitions with over $1.5 billion in transaction value, financing transactions of over $1 billion, and over 100 fairness opinions and 1,000 valuations.

General Contact: Kevin J. Rudd, President, 215-972-2351