CVC Capital Partners Announce Strategic Partnership With Second Avenue Partners

Business Wire, May 23, 2000

Business Editors

SEATTLE and LONDON, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2000

CVC Capital Partners (CVC), a leading European private equity provider, today announced a strategic partnership with Second Avenue Partners, one of Seattle's most experienced New Economy teams providing management, strategy and capital to early-stage companies.

Four founding partners of Second Avenue Partners will join a newly created advisory board focused on identifying opportunities to invest jointly with CVC in New Economy ventures in Europe and the United States. The four partners -- Pete Higgins, Nick Hanauer, Keith Grinstein and Mike Slade -- have a long and successful track record in the Internet and telecom sectors, having respectively held senior management positions with Microsoft, Avenue A Media, Nextel International and Starwave. Together, they have established Second Avenue Partners as a leading "mentor capitalist," providing hands-on, day-to-day support focused on a small number of early-stage companies in the United States. Steve Jobs, chairman and CEO of Apple Computer; and Stuart Sloan, founder of Sloan Capital Companies, are also strategic partners in Second Avenue Partners.

From an origination perspective CVC's New Economy advisory board will primarily target European e-businesses from CVC's existing portfolio, as well as other early-stage opportunities in Europe and Asia. The board will also pursue opportunities to bring European e-business ventures to the United States, and U.S. e-business ventures to Europe and Asia. Second Avenue Partners will assist CVC in recruiting management to run their jointly funded ventures and provide investment and operational advice. It is also envisaged that Second Avenue Partners or CVC partners will join the boards of companies in which they take a majority stake.

Second Avenue Partners' current portfolio consists of TeamOn.com, Hablador, digiMine.com, and TeraBeam.

Marc St John, CVC's managing director for new technology business development, commented, "Our partnership with Second Avenue puts CVC firmly ahead in terms of e-deal capability, bringing us substantial U.S. experience to complement our existing strengths in New Economy Europe. The board will add value both strategically and through a very hands-on approach to the selected investments. Our local knowledge with their specialist experience of building these types of business is a uniquely powerful combination."

"We have teamed up with CVC because they are one of Europe's most successful private equity firms with the strongest regional network," said Pete Higgins, a partner of Second Avenue Partners. "Our partnership breaks new ground both in the amount of time and expertise we will be able to devote to each business, and the global perspective we can offer to companies and entrepreneurs who are seeking to develop integrated e-commerce strategies across Europe and the U.S."