Charterhouse Group Announces Exit Of Investment In Oakleaf Global Holdings, Inc. in a $655 Million Transaction

Strong Organic and Acquisition Growth Results in 7x Return on Investment NEW YORK, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Charterhouse Group, Inc.("Charterhouse") today announced that it has entered into a definitiveagreement to sell its interest in Oakleaf Global Holdings, Inc. ("Oakleaf"or the "Company"), a leading provider of outsourced waste logisticssolutions, to New Mountain Partners II, L.P. and New Mountain Partners III,L.P., private equity funds sponsored by New Mountain Capital LLC ("NewMountain"), in a transaction valued at $655 million. Under Charterhouse's four year partnership with Oakleaf CEO and FounderJim Barnes and his management team, the Company has grown significantly tobecome North America's leading asset-light provider of outsourced wastelogistics solutions. The Company successfully completed six add-onacquisitions between 2004 and 2007, broadly expanding the Company's serviceoffering and diversifying its customer base. Oakleaf manages national waste service contracts for a diverse group ofcorporations in the retail, restaurant, hospitality, manufacturing andproperty management industries. The Company utilizes a network of local andregional waste haulers to provide non-hazardous waste collection servicesfor its customers. Oakleaf is differentiated from others in the wasteindustry by its asset-light business model, which reduces customer costs,improves vendors' route density and encourages environmentally "green"alternatives to traditional waste disposal. At the Company's core is one ofthe most advanced customer and vendor management information technologyplatforms in the business process outsourcing industry. The Company'sentrepreneurial management and state-of-the-art systems have revolutionizedthe waste services industry by providing comprehensive, nationwidesolutions to corporations. Today, Oakleaf serves approximately 500 majorcustomers at 85,000 locations in North America and executes over twomillion transactions per month. Jay Gates, Partner at Charterhouse, said, "Ever since we established arelationship with Oakleaf CEO and Founder Jim Barnes through CharterhouseEntrepreneur Paul Verrochi, we were impressed with the vision andcreativity of Jim and his team. We are proud to have supported the Companythrough such an exciting period of growth that has helped change andrevitalize the industry. Oakleaf exemplifies our partnership with industryleaders in emerging business service sub-sectors. The Company iswell-positioned for future expansion and Charterhouse wishes managementcontinued success as they work with New Mountain to take the business tothe next level." The sale of Oakleaf reflects the culmination of a well-executedCharterhouse Entrepreneur-focused build-up strategy. The Oakleaf strategyis consistent with Charterhouse's focus on sourcing proprietary deals andinvestment opportunities through its Entrepreneur relationships andcreating value through well-developed buy-and-build strategies. It is alsorepresentative of Charterhouse's core thesis of targeting investments indifferentiated, asset-light and scaleable sectors that areuniquely-positioned for extraordinary growth. Since 1973, Charterhouse hasconsistently identified and partnered with seasoned executives andsupported the growth of market leading companies. Paul Verrochi, Charterhouse Entrepreneur and Oakleaf's Chairman,stated, "It has been my pleasure to work closely with Jim and the Oakleafteam. The executives who work for Jim comprise one of the finest groups ofmanagers that I have had the pleasure of dealing with during my 35 years inthe service sector. They have built a solid and sustainable culture -second to none. I am proud to have overseen the six-fold revenue growth ofthis outstanding and dynamic company." Previous to his Charterhouseaffiliation, Mr. Verrochi was a founder of several businesses includingAmerican Medical Response, Inc., a provider of ambulance services, andCoach USA, Inc., a provider of motorcoach charters, tour and sightseeingservices. Jim Barnes stated: "Paul, Jay and the rest of the Charterhouseprofessionals have been great partners over the last four years. With theirindustry connections and deep transaction experience, they brought morethan just capital to the table. Charterhouse was incredibly resourceful andthe insight and constructive support that we received enabled us to realizeour vision of building an industry leader in a relatively short period oftime." The transaction is expected to close in mid-August. The Company wasadvised by Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated and Proskauer Rose LLP. About Charterhouse Group: Charterhouse Group, Inc. is a private equity firm that has been activefor over three decades in building leading middle-market companies.Established in 1973, Charterhouse has invested over $2 billion in equitythrough several limited partnerships. Since its inception, Charterhouse hascompleted investments in over 100 platform companies with a focus in theBusiness Services, Healthcare Services and Consumer Products and Servicessectors. For more information on Charterhouse, please visithttp://www.charterhousegroup.com. About Oakleaf Global Holdings, Inc.: Oakleaf, founded in 1995, provides logistics services related to wasteand recycling solutions to a broad base of multi-location retail,restaurant, hotel, manufacturing, property management and mall clientsincluding Sears, United Technologies, Kmart, GAP, TGI Fridays and more.Oakleaf is the most rapidly growing waste outsourcing company in the nationwith more than 450 employees, a nationwide network of 4,600 certifiedhaulers and more than 85,000 locations served throughout North America.Oakleaf was named to Inc. Magazine's 500 List three years in a row and hasbeen ranked on Inc.'s Inner City 100 List for the last three years. Formore information on Oakleaf, please visit http://www.oakleafwaste.com.