December 11, 2007 09:00 ET

The Carlyle Group and H.I.G. Ventures Make $20 Million Investment in REVShare

A Pioneer in Results-Based Advertising, REVShare Provides Unique Bid Technology for Television Industry

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - December 11, 2007) - Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group and H.I.G. Ventures today announced they co-led a $20 million investment in REVShare, an exchange that allows advertisers to bid for television time on a Cost-per-Action (CPA) basis (akin to the Cost-per-Click method of web advertisers), versus the traditional method of charging based on projected audience size.

Founded in 1989, REVShare utilizes a proprietary bidding system whereby advertisers specify a price they are willing to pay per response (i.e. when someone is prompted to call a toll-free number or visit a website) and the air time is allocated according to media return on investment (ROI). Under this system, stations are able to sell their inventory without revealing the effective rate of their ads, and advertisers are able to pay rates that are determined by a combination of market forces and response to their ads.

REVShare has been profitable since its founding in 1989 and due to increased interest from advertisers and television stations has tripled revenues since 2003. The company has relationships with more than 1,500 English and Spanish local market television stations, cable systems, syndicators and networks that are willing to provide television time on a performance basis.

"REVShare's strong technology and results-based approach to advertising has become a great solution for many media providers," said John Kim, Managing Director, H.I.G. Ventures. "The experience and expertise of the REVShare team is impressive and we look forward to working with them to take the company to the next level."

"REVShare has created an innovative product and a broad network of 1,500 local market television properties that reach over 110 million U.S. households," said Josh Ofstein, a Carlyle Principal. "Similar to the Pay-per-Click model that has been so successful on the Internet, REVShare delivers a performance-based solution to advertisers, which we believe has tremendous growth potential."

"Carlyle and H.I.G.'s global network and media experience will increase REVShare's ability to attract new customers and rapidly accelerate the growth of the company," said Joseph Gray, Chief Executive Officer of REVShare.

Carlyle's share of the investment comes from Carlyle Venture Partners III, a $605 million U.S. venture and growth capital fund.

RBC Daniels advised REVShare on the transaction.

REVShare

Founded in 1989, privately held REVShare® specializes in Cost-per-Action (CPA) television advertising. Reaching 110 million U.S. households, REVShare has relationships with more than 1,500 combined English and Spanish local market television stations, cable systems, syndicators, and networks that are willing to provide television time on a results basis. With a customer-oriented team, proven client results, state-of-the-art technology and marketing acumen, REVShare continues to lead the industry in the evolution of television advertising models to meet the challenges of the next generation of convergence and interactivity. www.revshare.com

The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm with $74.9 billion under management committed to 57 funds. Carlyle invests in buyouts, venture & growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America focusing on aerospace & defense, automotive & transportation, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology & business services and telecommunications & media. Since 1987, the firm has invested $37.6 billion of equity in 734 transactions for a total purchase price of $212.8 billion. The Carlyle Group employs more than 990 people in 21 countries. In the aggregate, Carlyle portfolio companies have more than $87 billion in revenue and employ more than 286,000 people around the world. www.carlyle.com.

H.I.G. Ventures

H.I.G. Ventures partners with entrepreneurs to provide the capital, expertise and relationships necessary to build market-leading businesses. With over $550 million in dedicated venture and growth capital under management, the firm's team invests nationally in early to later-stage information technology, life science and service businesses. H.I.G. Ventures is the venture capital affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, a leading private equity investment firm with over $4 billion of capital under management. H.I.G. Ventures has offices in Atlanta, GA and Miami, FL. www.higventures.com.