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William Blair & Company Advises A. M. Castle & Co.

William Blair & Company acted as exclusive financial advisor to A. M. Castle & Co. (AMEX: CAS) in the renegotiation of all of the Company’s outstanding debt agreements and the issuance of $12 million of convertible preferred stock.



Castle was founded in 1890 and is a public company trading on the American and Chicago Stock Exchanges. Castle provides highly engineered materials and value-added services to a widely diversified range of industrial companies. The Company is recognized as a leading industrial distributor of specialty metals such as carbon, alloy and stainless steels, aluminum, nickel alloy, titanium, copper, and brass. In addition, the Company is the premier provider of materials management programs designed to reduce a customer's total costs. Together, Castle and its affiliated companies operate more than 50 locations throughout North America. For the 12 months ended September 30, 2002, the Company had net sales of more than $550 million.

William Blair & Company was retained by Castle to execute a recapitalization plan in August of 2002. William Blair & Company served in several capacities: as financial advisor to as placement agent for the private equity offering; and as financial advisor regarding the fairness opinion that was delivered to the Board of Directors of Castle. William Blair & Company negotiated the $12 million infusion of new equity provided by Simpson Estates, Inc., the Company’s largest shareholder, in an offering priced at approximately the market price of the Company's stock at the time the transaction was negotiated. Under the terms of the transaction, Simpson Estates purchased Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, convertible into approximately 10.5% of the fully diluted shares, bringing their diluted ownership to approximately 45%. William Blair & Company also assisted the Company in negotiating amendments to agreements governing more than $190 million of senior debt.

William Blair & Company completed this complex transaction within the parameters presented to the Board in October 2002. The preferred stock transaction and amendments to Castle's bank facilities and senior note agreements significantly increase the Company's operating flexibility. The transactions were consummated on November 22, 2002.

For additional information, please contact:

Corporate Finance
Sam Tinaglia, Principal 312.364.8086

Debt Finance
Christine Kelly, Principal 312.364.8383

Private Equity Placements
Kelly Martin, Principal 312.364.8832



THIS IS NOT IN ANY SENSE A SOLICITATION OR OFFER OF THE PURCHASE OR SALE OF SECURITIES. THE FACTUAL STATEMENTS HEREIN HAVE BEEN TAKEN FROM SOURCES WE BELIEVE TO BE RELIABLE, BUT SUCH STATEMENTS ARE MADE WITHOUT ANY REPRESENTATION AS TO ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OR OTHERWISE. OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE OUR OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED. FROM TIME TO TIME, WILLIAM BLAIR & COMPANY, L.L.C. OR ITS AFFILIATES MAY BUY AND SELL THE SECURITIES REFERRED TO HEREIN, MAY MAKE A MARKET THEREIN AND MAY HAVE A LONG OR SHORT POSITION THEREIN. “WILLIAM BLAIR & COMPANY” AND “WILLIAM BLAIR & COMPANY (SCRIPT)” ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF WILLIAM BLAIR & COMPANY, L.L.C. Copyright 2002, William Blair & Company, L.L.C.

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Media Relations Contact:
Tony Zimmer, 312-364-8611

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