BIA Digital Partners II LP Announces First Close of Mezzanine Fund.

CHANTILLY, Va. -- BIA Digital Partners, an investment management firm located in Northern Virginia, today announced the first close of its second private equity fund. BIA Digital Partners II LP (the "Fund") closed on $27 million of commitments in late December from limited partners who had participated in BIA Digital Partners' first mezzanine fund. The Fund was created to provide primarily mezzanine capital to private telecommunications, media, entertainment, information service and business services companies. The target is to raise a total of $150 million, inclusive of leverage. Fundraising agent Ariane Capital Partners has been engaged to approach the institutional market.

Lloyd Sams and Gregg Johnson will serve as Managing Principals, with Scott Chappell, Tom Buono and Chuck Wiebe serving as Principals. This management team has worked together at BIA Digital Partners for five years. Combined, they have nearly 100 years of communications finance experience.

The Fund will make subordinated debt and preferred equity investments of $4 million to $10 million per transaction, and up to $25 million with co-investment from its limited partners. The Fund, similar to BIA's first fund, will focus on mid to later stage companies operating in such industry segments as wireless and landline telephony, radio, newspaper, television, cable television, towers, business publishing, broadband networks, theaters, yellow pages, on-line media, security alarm, and outdoor advertising. It will also expand into related business services such as transaction processing, call centers, educational services, and billing services.

"Mezzanine capital of $10 million or less remains scarce for moderate sized communications and tangential business services firms," stated Sams. "We are gratified to receive such strong support from existing limited partners as we extend the BIA Digital Partners platform to a new fund," added Johnson.

The Fund benefits from its industry advisory board that includes Anne Bingaman, former Chairman of Valor Telecom and previously Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice; William Fitzgerald, Chairman of Ascend Media and SVP of Liberty Media; Jeffrey Smulyan, Chairman and CEO of Emmis Communications; and Bruce Levenson, Co-founder and Partner of United Communications Group and Atlanta Spirit LLC. Richard Wiley, Managing Partner of the law firm Wiley, Rein and Fielding and former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, serves as Special Counsel.

The predecessor fund, BIA Digital Partners LP, is an $88 million Small Business Investment Company (SBIC). It has made 19 investments totaling $80 million in 16 portfolio companies since 2002. To date, three successful exits have been realized.

About BIA Digital Partners

BIA Digital Partners is private equity firm providing junior capital to middle-market communications companies. The Fund's capital is available for growth, recapitalizations and LBO's/MBO's. The Fund focuses on mid to later-stage companies operating in the media, telecommunications, and related business services industries. For more information, visit www.biadigitalpartners.com.