Goldsmith Agio Helms Completes Sale of National Pen Corporation.

LOS ANGELES -- Goldsmith Agio Helms announced today the completed sale of its client, National Pen Corporation ("NPC"), a business-to-business direct marketer of promotional products, to the Berwind Corporation ("Berwind"), a diversified family-owned business. NPC CEO, Tom Liguori, and the entire management team are expected to remain with the Company post closing.

National Pen Corporation, (www.pens.com), headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a recognized leader in the promotional-products industry, capitalizing on its core competencies in direct marketing, custom imprinting, and pen manufacturing. Founded in 1948, NPC uses a business-to-business, direct-marketing strategy to sell personalized advertising specialties. The Company uses proprietary technology to personalize nearly all of the products it sells with customer names, logos, and ad messages or other decorations. The Company also operates out of facilities in Shelbyville, Tennessee; Tijuana, Mexico; and Dundalk, Ireland.

Berwind Corporation (www.berwind.com) is a Philadelphia-based, family-owned investment management company, with a portfolio of companies representing several billion dollars of enterprise value. With its roots dating to 1886, Berwind has evolved from its beginning as a coal mining company, to a diversified portfolio of highly successful manufacturing and service companies, all leaders in their market niche. Berwind operates under a decentralized business model, offering management operating autonomy.

Ed Villeneuve, managing director of Goldsmith Agio Helms, commented, "We were delighted to represent the Liguori family in the sale of NPC. The Company received a great deal of interest from both strategic and financial buyers due to the quality of the management team, its unique business model, and its proprietary technology. We were happy to find Berwind who, as a family business itself, understood the Liguori's desire to maintain the culture at NPC going forward."

David Solomon, partner of Goldsmith Agio Helms, added, "This transaction represents our firm's 15th deal in our extensive direct marketing and marketing services practice and nearly our 60th business services transaction. We received numerous offers for NPC, but Berwind impressed our client and management team with the strong cultural fit, its thoughtful approach to due diligence and its commitment to closing the transaction expeditiously."

Tom Liguori, President and CEO of NPC, commented, "We are truly excited about working with the Berwind Corporation as we look to a future of robust growth. Berwind's core values are very much aligned with those of National Pen. Similar to National Pen, Berwind's culture attracts imaginative and energetic individuals who are driven to satisfy the interest of customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders. Goldsmith Agio Helms conducted a thorough and well-orchestrated process in finding the right buyer for our family business."

Van Billet, Berwind's Chief Financial Officer, remarked, "Berwind will offer the Company the potential of a long-term home that has very similar core values and ethics which have been instilled at National Pen by the Liguori family for over 50 years. NPC provides Berwind with an exciting growth platform in promotional products and outsourced marketing services, which has no equal in its niche."

The Law Offices of Roger L. Neu, Inc. in Irvine, California led the legal team that represented National Pen. The law firm of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP represented Berwind Corporation and Bank of America Securities acted as financial advisor to the buyer.

Goldsmith Agio Helms (www.agio.com) is one of the nation's leading private investment banking firms providing financial advisory services to middle market businesses. The firm's services include mergers and acquisitions, distressed advisory and restructuring, valuations and fairness opinions, and private placements of debt and equity. The firm has offices in Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles, and London.