PlattForm Holdings, Inc., Acquires Beauty Inter-Network Company

PRLog (Press Release) - Nov 06, 2007 -
PlattForm Holdings, Inc., a leading Internet marketing and enrollment solutions provider to the postsecondary education industry, today announced the acquisition of Beauty Inter-Network Company, a recruitment and enrollment lead generation company that publishes beautyschools.com and other web sites for the education industry. Combined with PlattForm’s recent acquisitions of VentureDirect Worldwide, Inc. and beautyschoolsdirectory.com, this acquisition solidifies PlattForm’s leadership position in postsecondary education marketing and specifically in the cosmetology segment of the industry.

“We are pleased to add Beauty Inter-Network and Red Sidell to the PlattForm organization,” said Michael Platt, CEO of PlattForm. “Our experience serving more than 3,400 schools will benefit the clients that currently work with Beauty Inter-Network, and they will find our full-service capabilities to be effective in identifying and securing new students through a variety of mediums at an attractive cost-per-lead.”

Dave Admire, President of PlattForm, said, “This transaction, along with the recent acquisition of beautyschoolsdirectory.com, gives our cosmetology school clients another platform to reach potential students.  With web site enhancements, including increased cosmetology-related content and greater search accuracy, our new sites will appeal to a wider and more varied audience.”

Red Sidell, founder of Beauty Inter-Network, said, “I am excited to join the PlattForm team and I look forward to introducing my clients to the services that I can now offer them.”  

PlattForm’s full suite of enrollment solutions includes online lead generation, search engine optimization, paid-inclusion placement, affiliate marketing, e-mail and postal list services, interactive lead management, web site design and development, custom publishing, public relations, contact center solutions, creative services, and traditional media placement.

With this acquisition, PlattForm continues to grow its portfolio of hundreds of lead generation web sites, including: www.search4careercolleges.com, www.careerexplorer.net, www.letsfranchise.com , www.uscollegesearch.org, www.projectcareer.com, www.scholarshipexplorer.com, www.instanthealthalert.com, www.directdegree.com, www.beautyschoolsdirectory.com and www.beautyschools.com. These sites provide a significant number of proprietary leads to PlattForm’s customers.

PlattForm is a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm. “The PlattForm team continues to demonstrate its ability to grow the business organically and through acquisition,” said John Bates of Arlington Capital Partners. “We continue to support the team in evaluating additional growth opportunities.”

Ed Weklar of Arlington Capital Partners said, “Internet lead generation is attractive to postsecondary education companies due to the high return on investment they are able to achieve. We continue to seek additional acquisitions for PlattForm to further strengthen its interactive marketing capabilities.”

About PlattForm Holdings, Inc.
PlattForm Holdings, Inc. (www.plattformad.com) is a leading interactive marketing and enrollment solutions provider to the postsecondary education industry.  With more than $175 million of gross revenue and over 450 employees in offices in Olathe, Kan.; New York City; Kansas City, Mo; Pineville, N.C.; and Winthrop, Wash., PlattForm provides interactive marketing and enrollment solutions including media placement services for the television, print and radio markets; creative and production; direct mail services; public relations and contact center services, with particular industry expertise in the postsecondary education sector.  In addition, PlattForm offers marketing services to the consumer products, financial services, health, franchise marketing, home improvement, business services and travel industries.

About Arlington Capital Partners
Arlington Capital Partners (www.arlingtoncap.com) is a Washington, D.C.-based private equity fund with over $1 billion of committed capital focused on middle-market buyout investment opportunities in growth industries, including education and training, business services and outsourcing, aerospace/defense, IT and engineering services, media, healthcare services, and specialized manufacturing and related industries. The firm’s professionals have a unique combination of operating and private equity experience that enables Arlington to be a value-added investor. Arlington invests in companies in partnership with high-quality management teams that are motivated to establish and/or advance their company’s positions as leading competitors in their field.

SOURCE: PlattForm Holdings, Inc. and Arlington Capital Partners

Contact:
Michael Platt or David Admire
PlattForm Holdings, Inc.
500 N. Rogers Road
Olathe, KS  66062
Phone: (913) 254-6000
mplatt@plattformad.com
davea@plattformad.com
www.plattformad.com

John Bates or Ed Weklar
Arlington Capital Partners                                  
600 New Hampshire Ave., NW, Suite 660
Washington, DC 20037                                                                                    
Phone: (202) 337-7500
jbates@arlingtoncap.com
eweklar@arlingtoncap.com
www.arlingtoncap.com