Member Direct Television Attracts $4.5 Million From Patricof & Co. Ventures, Inc.; Equity Infusion Will Fuel Growth Through Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, and Strategic Alliances.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 8, 1999--Patricof & Co. Ventures, Inc., a leading, international private equity firm with over $4 billion under management worldwide, announced it invested $4.5 million in Member Direct(tm) Television, the parent company of RealNet Learning Services and other industry-specific training and educational services. The financing will be used to fuel growth through a number of activities including acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances. No further terms of the transaction were released, although it is expected that there will be further financing from Patricof & Co. in the future. "The opportunities afforded by Patricof & Co.Ventures' investment are truly exciting," said Bruce Finland, President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Member Direct(tm) Television. "Now, Member Direct is well-positioned to expand our `rookie to retirement' range of offerings to professionals in specific industries and strengthen our commitment to our target markets including real estate and financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. . This vote of confidence from an established private equity player like Patricof & Co. could not have come at a better time in our company's history," he added. Finland also announced that his company's subsidiary, RealNet Learning Services, a leading provider of multimedia training services to the professional real estate community, has acquired the Real Estate Training Institute (RETI). RETI is founder of the rapidly growing Certified Buyer Representative designation and the foremost buyer agency training company in the country. RETI will continue to operate as an independent operation and will retain its current management team. Based in McLean, Virginia McLean is an unincorporated community located in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. A small geographic area along Chain Bridge Road in Arlington County has a 22101 zip code and is also part of McLean. , Member Direct(tm) Television is a training and education company that produces and distributes content over the DIRECTV digital satellite television network and other delivery platforms including video, CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). , print, seminars, and the Internet. It currently distributes more than ten vertical industry networks and private corporate training and education services to over 200,000 career professionals in the real estate and financial services industries throughout the U.S. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Learningstream.net, is one of the largest producers of videostreaming educational and training products. "We decided two years ago that the educational field was poised for strong growth, and we have seen numerous opportunities. Member Direct is one of the first opportunities to hold our attention. It has made strong inroads inroads Noun, pl make inroads into to start affecting or reducing: my gambling has made great inroads into my savings inroads npl to make inroads into [+ into its selected markets such as real estate and its content can be easily applied to various other markets. With its acquisition strategy in place and the funds to execute, we expect Member Direct to be a significant player in educational services," said George M. Jenkins, Managing Director of Patricof & Co. Ventures, Inc. Patricof & Co. Ventures, Inc., U.S. member of Apax Partners, is a private investment firm with offices in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Philadelphia, Palo Alto Palo Alto, city, California Palo Alto (păl`ō ăl`tō), city (1990 pop. 55,900), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1894. Although primarily residential, Palo Alto has aerospace, electronics, and advanced research industries. , London, Leeds, Manchester, Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris, Madrid, Munich, Tel-Aviv, and Zurich. Since its inception in 1969, Patricof & Co. has funded over 200 companies in a diverse range of industries including such brand names as Apple Computer, America Online See AOL. , FORE Systems See Marconi. , Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Office Depot, and Sunglass Hut, among others. Member Direct(tm) Television, founded in 1995, is a privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. with offices in McLean, VA, Detroit, MI, Tampa, FL, and Charlotte, N.C. |
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