Renaissance Capital Growth & Income Fund III, Inc. Announces Sale of Its Largest Holding, Laserscope, to American Medical Syste

DALLAS, June 6  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Renaissance Capital Growth & Income Fund III, Inc. (OTC:RENN), a business development company, has announced that under the terms of a definitive merger agreement, Laserscope (NASDAQ:LSCP), the largest holding in the RENN portfolio, representing approximately 25.9% of the value of the Fund, has agreed to be acquired by American Medical Systems Holdings (NASDAQ:AMMD).  American Medical will commence a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Laserscope at a price of $31.00 per share in cash no later than Wednesday, June 14, 2006.

Based on the $31.00 share price for Laserscope, the net asset value of RENN will increase from the Friday, June 2, 2006 closing of $11.58 to approximately $12.94, an 11.7% increase.  When the acquisition is completed, the Fund will receive $18,600,000 versus a cost basis of $750,000 for shares owned, or 24.8 times cost.

On February 19, 2004, RENN sold half of its Laserscope position for $21.47 per share.  Taking both the February 19, 2004 sale and the anticipated closing of the American Medical tender offer, RENN will have realized gains of $29,981,396 on an initial investment of $1,500,000.  The Fund also holds options to acquire 34,923 shares, which will cash out at closing of the tender offer.

Russell Cleveland, President of Renaissance Capital Growth & Income Fund, stated "Laserscope has been an exceptional investment for the Fund. Congratulations to Eric Reuter, President of Laserscope, and his management team and also to Robert Pearson of Renaissance Capital for his skill and service as a long time Laserscope board member.  Medical investments that are successful fit the adage, 'doing well by doing good.'"

About Renaissance Capital Growth & Income Fund III, Inc.

Renaissance Capital Growth & Income Fund III, Inc. is a closed-end Business Development fund concentrating on investing in emerging publicly owned growth companies, primarily through private placements of convertible securities.  The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation and current income by investing in emerging growth companies.  The Fund's current Portfolio consists of investments in 23 businesses in various industries.  The Fund has paid its investors a total of $13.51 per share in cash distributions since its initial public offering in 1994 at $10.00.

Forward-Looking Statements

This report contains forward-looking statements.  Such statements reflect the current views of the Fund with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions.  Although the Fund believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual future results or events may vary materially from those described herein.  Past performance is not indicative of future results.  For additional information, please visit http://www.rencapital.com/.

  Investor Contact:                      Media Relations Contact:
  RENN Capital Group, Inc.               Chris Rosgen
  Michelle Sparks:  214-891-8294         Capital Market Relations
                   [phone]

              "FINDING VALUE, ADDING VALUE, REALIZING VALUE"


DATASOURCE: Renaissance Capital Growth & Income Fund III, Inc.



CONTACT:  Investors, Michelle Sparks of RENN Capital Group, Inc.,

[phone], , for Renaissance Capital Growth &

Income Fund III, Inc.; or Media Relations, Chris Rosgen of Capital Market

Relations, [phone], for Renaissance Capital Growth & Income Fund III,

Inc.



Web site:  http://www.rencapital.com/ 

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