Patterson completes sale of medical business to Madison Dearborn Partners

Patterson Medical, formerly the medical business of Patterson Companies, Inc. (Nasdaq: PDCO), is now an independent company with today's completion of the previously announced acquisition of Patterson Medical by Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP).

Patterson Medical will retain its name for a transition period before rebranding as the world's leading independent distributor of rehabilitation and sports medicine products. With the focused resources and expertise of MDP, Patterson Medical is well positioned to continue to serve its strong and growing market and capitalize on the numerous growth opportunities before it. Michael J. Orscheln will continue to lead Patterson Medical as the newly independent company's chief executive officer. The current Patterson Medical leadership team will continue in its role of driving growth and value for the company and its customers.

"Today marks an exciting beginning for our employees and our customers," said Michael J. Orscheln, chief executive officer of Patterson Medical. "We are now singularly focused on remaining the leader in our chosen markets. We have the dedicated resources and expertise to provide our customers superior service and help them meet the challenges of delivering healthcare in the 21^st century. Today is day one and I'm excited to get to work with our new partners at MDP and my talented colleagues at the new Patterson Medical."

Founded in 1995 as Sammons Preston and later renamed AbilityOne, the company joined Patterson Companies in 2003. Since its inception, Patterson Medical has grown to become the leading global specialty distributor of rehabilitation supplies and equipment to acute care facilities, outpatient clinics, long-term care facilities and select dealers. Its U.S. sales force ranks among the rehabilitation industry's largest, bringing occupational therapists and physical therapists in hospitals, long-term care facilities and clinics the most comprehensive range of products, brand names and services available. These include more than 30,000 top-name rehabilitation supplies, equipment and assistive living products. Additionally, Patterson Medical's widely recognized Medco sports medicine division provides more than 12,000 products to athletic trainers in professional sports, high school and college teams and recreational sports organizations.

Patterson Medical's business is global, with offices in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and New Zealand. Patterson Medical also serves rehabilitation distributors in over 100 countries.

MDP has a long history of successfully investing in health care across a range of sub-sectors, including health care distributors such as VWR International, specialty pharmaceuticals and medical products, hospitals, home and community-based care, skilled nursing facilities and life sciences. The firm's recent investments include Ikaria, Kaufman Hall, Option Care and Sage Products. Over the past 30 years, the principals of MDP have focused on investing in companies in partnership with outstanding management teams to achieve significant long-term appreciation in equity value.

"Mike Orscheln and his team have re-invigorated growth in recent quarters and we are supportive of the game plan they have developed to continue this momentum and achieve sustained success over the long term," said Tim Sullivan, a managing director at MDP. "We are excited to partner with the Patterson Medical team as it embarks on this exciting new phase."