Baywood International, Inc. Announces Sale of Assets of Nutraceutical Division and...

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Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:18am EDT

Baywood International, Inc. Announces Sale of Assets of Nutraceutical Division
and Expansion of Beverage Brands

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 30, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Baywood International, Inc.
(OTCBB:BAYW) (the "Company") announced today that it has entered into a
definitive agreement to sell the assets of its wholly-owned subsidiary,
Nutritional Specialties, Inc./dba LifeTime(r) or LifeTime(r) Vitamins
("LifeTime") (such transaction, the "Sale"), to Nutra, Inc., a subsidiary of
Nutraceutical International Corporation. The purchase price of LifeTime was
$8,250,000 in cash, less payment of liabilities and certain pre-closing working
capital adjustments. The final closing of the Sale is subject to shareholder
approval and certain releases including final consents from the Company's senior
lender, Vineyard Bank, N.A. As a result of the Sale, the Company intends to
initiate a plan to recapitalize its balance sheet and focus on the growth of its
beverage business, namely New Leaf Tea, as well as the expansion of new products
within the functional drink space.

Commenting on the Sale and recapitalization, President and CEO Eric Skae stated,
"Important changes are occurring at Baywood that we believe will be very
positive for shareholder value. We enjoyed the growth and value of our
nutraceutical business, but realized the need to build a pure-play company in
beverages. The industry growth of the functional beverage category is compelling
not only with respect to the future sales and profitability of the Company, but
also the strength from a valuation standpoint in the public markets."

Key components of the Company's new planned strategic direction are:

 * Divest the LifeTime nutraceutical subsidiary;
 * Build a pure-play beverage company around the New Leaf(r) brand of
   ready-to-drink teas and other new functional beverages;
 * Reduce unit costs and streamline operations;
 * Restructure the balance sheet;
 * Raise equity capital to fund geographic expansion of beverage brands;
 * Initiate a public relations and shareholder communication effort to
   attract new investors; and
 * Grow the New Leaf brand into a national franchise and household name.
The Company intends to develop a new line of ready-to-drink ("RTD") beverages
based on Super Juices and other functional ingredients. The New Leaf brand is
already established in the Northeast and is emerging in the Southeast, Midwest
and South Florida through over 75 distributors and approximately 8,000 accounts
in the independent grocery/restaurant "street" channel. The Company's goal is to
build the New Leaf brand and drive sales growth through expanded distribution,
marketing support and new product additions.

Separately, the Company announced its plans to change its name to New Leaf
Brands, Incorporated to reflect the mission of its business moving forward.

For more detailed information regarding the Sale, please refer to the Company's
current report on Form 8-K filed on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

About New Leaf Brands:

Founded by Eric Skae in 2004 in Orangeburg, New York, New Leaf Brands was
created with the vision of providing healthy beverages for consumers that are
great-tasting and made only with high quality ingredients. New Leaf Tea was the
company's first product that was born out of that vision and now is available to
consumers in 14 unique flavors and in over 8,000 outlets including restaurants,
delis, pizzerias and other retail establishments. For more information, please
visit www.newleafbrands.com.

About Baywood:

Baywood International, Inc. (OTCBB:BAYW) (the "Company") develops, markets and
sells nutraceutical and nutritionally enhanced products and new age beverages
under its own brands. The Company merges its expertise in nutritional
formulation with its leverage in sales and distribution to deliver the most
effective and progressive products to market. Currently, the Company's products
are sold under the LifeTime(r) nutraceutical brand and the New Leaf(r) tea
brand.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express the
Company's intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions or any
other statements relating to its future activities or other future events or
conditions. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and
projections about the Company's business based, in part, on assumptions made by
the Company's management. These statements are not guarantees of future
performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult
to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from
what is expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements due to
numerous factors, including those risks discussed in the Company's annual report
on Form 10-K and in other documents that the Company files from time to time
with the SEC.

In addition, such statements could be affected by risks and uncertainties
related to the Company's financial condition, factors that affect the Company's
industry, market and customer acceptance, competition, government regulations
and requirements, general industry and market conditions and growth rates, and
general economic conditions. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the
date on which they are made, and the Company does not undertake any obligation
to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after
the date of this press release, except as required by law.

-0-
CONTACT:  New Leaf Brands
          Eric Skae, President
          (845) 365-1570 x 3
          eric@newleafbrands.com
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