NEW YORK, July 9, 2007 - Castle Harlan, Inc., the New York-based private equity firm, announced today that Blue Star Print Group, a portfolio company of Castle Harlan and its Australian affiliate CHAMP Private Equity, has acquired a major independent Australian printing company in a transaction valued at A$67.3 million.

Castle Harlan said the Blue Star purchase involved the McMillan Printing Group, which comprises McMillan Print in Sydney and Pirion Printing in Canberra. The acquisition makes Blue Star, which is based in Auckland, New Zealand, the largest multi-discipline print group in Australasia. In early June, Blue Star had bought National Capital Printing of Canberra for A$12.7 million.

Castle Harlan and CHAMP Private Equity, based in Sydney, originally acquired Blue Star in March in a transaction valued at A$338.0 million.

CHAMP Private Equity, successor to the oldest private equity fund in the region, was formed as Castle Harlan Australian Mezzanine Partners Pty Ltd in 2000. It is one of the largest private equity groups in Australasia. Castle Harlan and CHAMP Private Equity have raised the CHAMP I and CHAMP II Funds with A$1.5 billion in equity commitments for buyouts of companies based, or with material operations, in Australasia.

The CHAMP Funds have completed 13 acquisitions with a combined transaction value of more than A$2.8 billion. They have included Austar Communications, Australia's second largest subscription TV operator; Bradken Limited, a leading Australian manufacturer of steel consumables and capital equipment for the mining and railroad industries, and Penrice Limited, the only manufacturer of sodium carbonate (soda ash) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) in Australasia.

Castle Harlan, founded in 1987, invests in controlling interests in the buyout and development of middle-market companies in North America, Europe and, together with CHAMP Private Equity, Australasia. Its team of 19 investment professionals in New York has completed 48 acquisitions since its inception with a total value in excess of US$9 billion.

Castle Harlan's current portfolio companies, which employ more than 42,000 people, include Ames True Temper, a leading manufacturer of lawn and garden tools and accessories; Baker & Taylor, the leading global distributor of books and entertainment products to libraries and retailers, and Perkins & Marie Callender's, Inc., which operates and franchises 618 family restaurants in the United States and Canada.