TEMECULA, Calif., March 11, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Nicholas Investment Company, Inc. (Other OTC:NIVM) today announced that it has named Chris Bickel to the position of Chief Operating Officer of the Company. In addition to his duties as President of Nicholas' subsidiary SINO UJE, Ltd., Mr. Bickel will bring his substantial operations and managerial background to Nicholas as the Company evaluates potential acquisitions and executes other critical business decisions.
Mr. Bickel has over 20 years in Sales and Marketing and Operations management positions with both public and private companies. While working at a division of a FTSE-listed process control instrumentation company, Mr. Bickel held a wide range of positions in sales, marketing and operations management. While serving as International Manager he introduced Asia as a marketplace while establishing direct facilities in China and offices throughout Asia. The Chinese operation quickly became the #1 region in the world in sales and profitability for the company and remains so today.
As Director of Sales and Marketing for a NASDAQ-listed semiconductor detector manufacturing company, Mr. Bickel established and managed a worldwide sales and marketing organization that experienced 60% AACGR during his time there. During his tenure, the customer base was converted from Research and Development institutions to an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) clientele that included GE, Toshiba, Philips, Hitachi, Siemens, etc.
While President of Anzai International, a privately held Japanese company, Mr. Bickel set up direct offices and employees in the USA and Europe while managing the regulatory approvals process -- FDA and CE/MDD -- as well as less significant regulatory approvals in other countries and regions around the world for new medical imaging technologies. He set up distribution throughout the world for the post-regulatory approval sales and service and managed dozens of pre-approval clinical trials and clinical tests in hospitals in the USA, Europe and Asia.
Mr. Bickel established SINO UJE Ltd. in June 2001 and built the company into an established distributor of medical and industrial instrumentation and technology products in China. SINO was acquired by Nicholas Investment Company in January 2004.
Steven R. Peacock, President of Nicholas Investment Company, Inc., commented, "Chris brings experience and a successful record on the operational side to our fund management team. As Nicholas moves to the next phase of investment and acquisitions, Chris will provide key leadership in assessing and identifying value and opportunity that is beyond what is apparent at the financial statement level."
About Nicholas Investment Company
Nicholas Investment Company, Inc. is a closed-end fund whose core focus is to seek out strategic investments in a number of growth industries. The company has acquired 100% of Javelin Holdings, Inc., a small business consulting firm, and 95% of SINO UJE, a non stocking distributor that sells and services western manufactured high-tech products to markets throughout China. For more information on the Company and its Fund Portfolio or to sign up for the Company's mailing list, please visit, www.nicholasinvestments.com.
All statements included in this release, including statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of Nicholas Investment Company, Inc. are forward-looking statements. Such statements are necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which are significant in scope and nature beyond Nicholas Investment Company, Inc.'s control. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Actual results may differ materially depending on many factors. Nicholas Investment Company, Inc cautions that historical results are not necessarily indicative of the future performance.