Oak Hill Capital Leads Investors in $48 Million Financing of Blackboard Inc

Business Wire, April 16, 2001

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 16, 2001

Series E Round Builds On Strong Financial Performance and Provides Capital to Meet Profitability Targets and Accelerate Continued Growth

Blackboard Inc., the leading Internet infrastructure software company for e-Education, announced today that it has secured more than $48 million of equity financing in a round led by Oak Hill Capital Partners, L.P.

The announcement follows the company's recently released performance in 2000 of $32 million in revenues on a pro forma basis with an additional $16 million in deferred revenues. Blackboard has now raised a total of more than $100 million in private equity since its founding in 1997.

Oak Hill Capital Partners, L.P., a private equity group founded by Robert M. Bass and his team of investment professionals, led the financing with $25 million in the company's Series E round. Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq:MSFT), along with investment banks Dain Rauscher Wessels and Morgan Keegan, participated as new investors in the round.

Recognizing Blackboard's strong track record of growth and increasing business potential, all of the company's previous investors participated in the round as well.

These investors include: AOL-Time Warner (NYSE:AOL), The Aurora Funds, The Carlyle Group, Dell Computer Corporation (Nasdaq:DELL), Internet Capital Group (Nasdaq:ICGE), Kaplan, Inc, Merrill Lynch KECALP, Novak Biddle Venture Partners and Pearson Education, part of Pearson plc (NYSE:PSO).

"This is a tremendous endorsement of Blackboard's business model and proven track record, during a time of great volatility in the public and private equity markets," stated Michael L. Chasen, president and CEO of Blackboard. "This round of financing will see the company through to profitability within the next 12 months, allowing us to focus on providing our customers with the industry's leading solutions and services that have made Blackboard successful."

Steven B. Gruber, managing partner of Oak Hill Capital, commented, "We are delighted to be partnering with Blackboard. With its leading market position in the e-Learning infrastructure sector, Blackboard is fast becoming the industry standard platform. After over a year of diligence on the industry and many of the participants in it, we are excited to be investing in a company with a true end-to-end operating solution and a management team that has executed with great success."

"The addition of $48 million in capital and the institutions providing it is a tremendous advantage for Blackboard," said Andrew H. Rosen, executive vice president of corporate development and general counsel of Blackboard Inc. "Not only do we have the capital to get Blackboard to profitability, but we also have the means to continue exploring acquisitions and other initiatives to accelerate our growth."

About Oak Hill Capital Partners

Oak Hill Capital Partners, L.P. is a private equity partnership founded by Robert M. Bass and his team of investment professionals. Oak Hill Capital makes significant investments through acquisitions, build-ups, recapitalizations, restructurings, strategic joint ventures and the purchase of minority stakes across a wide range of industries.

Investments include: the formation of MeriStar Investment Partners, L.P.; a significant stake in American Skiing Company; a strategic investment in Cincinnati Bell, Inc., now Broadwing, Inc.; the acquisition of Caribbean Restaurants Inc. and TravelCenters of America (TA); and investments in several early stage growth companies including: Financial Engines, Wide Open West Holdings, Align Technology, Inc., IP Wireless and eGain Communications.

About Blackboard Inc.

Blackboard Inc. was founded to transform the Internet into a powerful environment for teaching and learning. The company offers a complete suite of enterprise software products and services that power a total "e-Education Infrastructure" for schools, colleges, universities and other education providers.

Blackboard solutions deliver the promise of the Internet for online teaching and learning, campus communities, auxiliary services and integration of Web-enabled student services and back office systems.

Blackboard's two major lines of business, Course & Portal Solutions and Commerce & Access Solutions, are consistently ranked by industry analysts as the market share and customer satisfaction leaders for thousands of academic institutions and a leading number of the Internet's most popular consumer education sites.

The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices and staff across North America, Europe and Asia. Please visit www.blackboard.com for more information.