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Lone Star Investment Advisors sold of its portfolio holding ESP Specialty Steel Products LLC ("ESP") of Houston, Texas, to SPS Companies, Inc. of Kansas. The acquisition of ESP represents SPS's first entry into markets and distribution for stainless steel products. Montrose Advisors provided advisory services and coordinated the sale of ESP through acquisition. Ted Schweinfurth of Baker McKenzie served as legal counsel to ESP. Clayton Skaggs of Weary Davis served as legal counsel to SPS.

Lone Star Investment Advisors (Lone Star) is a Dallas-based private equity firm that specializes in leveraged acquisitions and recapitalizations of strategically viable, middle-market businesses with strong potential for growth. The firm invests in Texas in a wide variety of industry sectors including manufacturing, industrial, distribution, business services and energy. Lone Star specializes in investments that will create employment opportunities and maintain a strong reputation for driving economic growth in low-income communities. www.lonestarinvestmentadvisors.com

ESP Specialty Steel Products is a master distributor based out of Houston Texas. As a secondary source to the mills, ESP sells stainless long products to stocking distributors to support their inventory positions. Operating out of its Houston and Chicago locations, ESP is a leader in customer service and innovative value-added service offerings, leveraging strategic partnerships with quality mills and select customers to offer specialty stainless steel products to stainless steel distribution/service centers.
ESP strives to anticipate the needs of customers by offering quality stainless and perforated metal products, ISO 9001:2015 certification, competitive lead times, 98% or better on-time delivery, quick-turn sawing and customer-tailored inventory management programs with online visibility to inventory levels and inbound in-transit. ESP will also meet customer specific requests for color coding, bar coding and custom packaging. www.espsteel.com

SPS Companies is an over 90-year-old private company based in Manhattan, Kansas. It operates several business units in the carbon steel space. These business units provide distribution, inventory management, steel processing and parts manufacturing services to a diverse array of customers in both the long and flat product markets. www.spsci.com

Montrose Advisors is an independent advisory firm specializing in Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Raising, and Strategic Advisory analyses for middle-market and lower-middle market clients in the Manufacturing, Metals, and Industrial Services markets. Montrose provides the sophistication and experience of an international investment bank, the deep network and market knowledge of an industry veteran, and the trusted relationships and personal attention of a boutique consultancy as it helps owners and managers tackle strategic opportunities and challenges with a combination of rigorous analysis, disciplined processes, and creative solutions. www.montroseadv.com

ZetrOZ Systems, creator and manufacturer of the sam® wearable ultrasound device product line, is continuing to expand its clinical education program on the benefits of sustained acoustic medicine for soft tissue healing, the usage of the pain relief treatment and attaining health insurance coverage of the pain relief device. 

Sustained Acoustic Medicine (sam®) is the only home-use bioregenerative medical device cleared by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for the treatment of select medical indications, most commonly for chronic joint pain of the shoulder, knee and elbow, and the treatment of overuse injuries. More than 50 clinical and scientific studies support its effectiveness in healing injuries, restoring function and returning patients to work and everyday activities.

"Our sam® technology is touching thousands of lives daily, and we want to continue providing education to more healthcare providers as a way to bring this innovative intervention forward to Americans who can benefit from this treatment," said Dr. George Lewis, founder and CEO of ZetrOZ Systems. "This technology offers results without the need for opioids or other drugs while treating and healing patients up to 40% faster than standard methodologies."

Clinical education on sam® is directed by Dr. Rod Walters and Dr. Rajiv Mallipudi. Walters is a nationally recognized leader in athletic training with decades of experience at major universities and as a consultant to clients including the National Football League, the Big 12 Athletic Conference and Cirque du Soleil. He was inducted into the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 2005.

Dr. Mallipudi, MD, M.H.S, is a board-certified internal medicine hospitalist physician and assistant clinical professor at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. He is an active clinical researcher on healthcare quality improvement, with projects examining methods to reduce length of stay for hospital patients and to improve patient outcomes.

Walters and Mallipudi have a shared goal of educating physicians, physical therapists and athletic trainers about the benefits and use of the sam® device, in hopes of reducing the need for surgeries and pain medication and improving patients' likelihood of returning to work, sports and normal daily activities. By providing clinical training resources, including online videos, medical professionals now have information on best practices for the drug-free and non-invasive treatment of patients' injuries.

Adherence to a sam® regimen across the repair phase provides a necessary and safe intervention to ensure patients avoid chronic, recurring injuries. Recommended practices are specified in the education materials and include:

• The sam® treatment can be applied with one or two ultrasound stimulators.
• The sam® device should be applied a minimum of four times a week.
• Treatments should be applied incrementally to assess patients' response to treatment, from an initial one-hour treatment to a maximum of four hours per treatment.
• For acute conditions, treatment duration can range from 4 to 8 weeks.
• For chronic conditions, treatment can range from 2 to 12 weeks.

Clinical education instructs physicians that sam® can serve as a stand-alone treatment or be used to supplement other treatment approaches to stimulate soft-tissue repair and that its value is as a treatment option that does not require surgery or pain relief medications. 

The sam® treatment also is a cost-effective treatment option. For example, a 2020 study on knee osteoarthritis, published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research, found sam® provided a greater improvement in functional effectiveness per dollar of care than the standard care options. 

ZetrOZ Systems continues to provide education on sam® technology, most recently participating in the annual PHATS (Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers Society) SPHEM (Society of Professional Hockey Equipment Managers) 2022 Conference in June. Findings showed sam® is a non-invasive, non-narcotic alternative to pain, and that the device's ease of use led athletes to return to normal activity after treatment.

To learn more, visit zetrozsystems.com.

About ZetrOZ Systems
ZetrOZ Systems is leading healing innovation in sports medicine, developing wearable bioelectronic devices for the delivery of sustained acoustic medicine (sam®). Researched and funded by the federal government, ZetrOZ is built on proprietary medical technology of +46 patents and is the exclusive manufacturer and developer of sam®, a product line designed for the treatment of acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions. To learn more, visit zetrozsystems.com.

CD One Price Cleaners
Based in Oak Brook, IL, a western suburb of Chicago, CD One Price Cleaners currently operates\n36 locally owned and operated franchise locations throughout the Chicago market, including its\nnewest store opening in Lake Zurich, IL.

CD One Price Cleaners, the Midwest's largest laundry and dry cleaning franchise, recently accomplished an all-time historic feat — washing and folding 5 million pounds of laundry.

For comparison, the average cotton t-shirt weighs about five ounces, meaning this milestone is equivalent to washing and folding 16 million t-shirts (though CD One cleans pants, formalwear, comforters, and more, too).

Jonathon Reckles, CD One's Vice President of Marketing, says a combination of new stores, the addition of pickup and delivery, and recent marketing efforts helped the franchise pull off the achievement.

"With workers slowly but surely returning to the office and an increase in weddings and other formal events, we're excited to see more customers through our doors every day," Reckles said. 

In 2021 alone, CD One washed and folded over 775,000 pounds of laundry. The franchise will continue to add to the grand total with CD One's newest store opening Monday, Oct. 10, in Lake Zurich, Illinois, located at 488 S. Rand Rd.

Since opening its first store over 20 years ago in Lincolnwood, IL, CD One Price Cleaners has established a leading market presence throughout Chicago and the Midwest with its unique, one-price and fast turnaround model.

CD One has honed the laundry process over time. CD One team members weigh and tag every wash and fold order so that nothing goes missing. Then, the team ensures customers' garments get to the right washing machine to get the care and cleaning they deserve. From there, the garments head to safe, temperature-controlled dryers that stop drying as soon as the clothes reach the optimal moisture level. This prevents over-drying and keeps clothes looking and feeling great.

CD One uses specialized chemistry and state-of-the-art machines to clean items safely and effectively while using less water and gentler, hypoallergenic detergents than what is typically used with home laundering. 

Reckles said, "Doing laundry is a chore that most people hate, especially folding. There are so many great things our customers will be able to do with their free time now that we've been able to take laundry off their to-do list." 

About CD One Price Cleaners:

Based in Oak Brook, IL, a western suburb of Chicago, CD One Price Cleaners currently operates 36 locally owned and operated franchise locations throughout the Chicago market, including its newest store opening in Lake Zurich, IL. The company operates a total of 38 stores in four states. Follow CD One Price Cleaners on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, or visit www.cdonepricecleaners.com