For Immediate Release
Lifeway Foods to join new Russell Microcap Index
Morton Grove, IL, June 23 - Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDQ: LWAY),
the nations leading kefir company, announced today that it is
set to join the new Russell Microcap(TM) Index when Russell Investment
Group reconstitutes its family of U.S. indexes on June 24, 2005.
Russell recently posted a preliminary membership list at http://www.russell.com/US/Indexes.
The Russell Microcap Index will be comprised of the smallest 1,000
securities in the small-cap Russell 2000(R) Index plus the next
1,000 companies, based on a ranking of all U.S. equities by market
capitalization. This new index offers managers and other investors
a comprehensive, unbiased barometer to compare their performance
against the genuine microcap marketplace of stocks.
Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional
investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and
active investment strategies. More than $2.5 trillion in assets
currently are benchmarked to them. Investment managers who oversee
these funds purchase shares of member stocks according to that
company's weighting in the particular index.
Companies slated for the Russell Microcap were ranked as of May
31, 2005 by total market capitalization and weighted based on
free-float adjustment, an integral aspect of Russell index methodology.
Free-float adjustment means stocks are weighted by their available
market capitalization, which is calculated by multiplying the
primary closing price by the available shares.
About Lifeway Foods, Inc.
Lifeway, named as Forbes’ 38th best small business and Fortune
Small Business' 47th Fastest Growing Small Business, is America's
leading supplier of the cultured dairy product known as kefir.
Kefir is a milk-based beverage that contains ten types of “friendly,”
active probiotic cultures. While normal yogurt only contains two
or three of these cultures, Lifeway kefir products offer more
nutritional benefits. Lifeway offers 12 different flavors of its
Kefir beverage, Organic Kefir and SoyTreat (a soy based kefir).
Lifeway also produces a line of products marketed in US Hispanic
communities, called La Fruta Drinkable Yogurt (yogurt drinks distinct
from kefir). In addition to its line of Kefir products, the company
produces a variety of cheese products and recently introduced
a line of organic pudding called It’s Pudding!.
About Russell Investment Group
Russell, a global leader in multi-manager investment services,
provides investment products and services in more than 39 countries.
Russell manages more than $135 billion in assets and advises clients
worldwide representing $2.3 trillion. Founded in 1936, Russell
is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual and is headquartered in
Tacoma, Wash., with additional offices in New York, Toronto, London,
Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Auckland and Tokyo.
For more information, contact Julie Smolyansky, President, Lifeway
Foods Inc. at (847) 967-1010 or e-mail at info@lifeway.net
and visit www.lifeway.net.
