DAVID FLASCHEN JOINS CASTANEA PARTNERS

Information and Business Services Veteran to Focus on New Opportunities

Newton, MA – May 18, 2005 - Castanea Partners announced today that David Flaschen has joined the firm as Operating Partner. David has over 20 years of executive experience in the marketing and business services industries and as such, will be focusing on opportunities in those areas.

Prior to joining Castanea, David was a Managing Director at Flagship Ventures, having joined the firm in 2000. Prior to Flagship, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Thomson Financial, a billion dollar information services company focused on the financial industry.

Rob Smith, Managing Partner of Castanea, said, “The level of operating experience that our team brings to the table is unique. We believe that David’s extraordinary experience with marketing and business services companies will be a valuable resource for portfolio management and also significantly add to our deal sourcing and due diligence process in these key markets.”

“We’re excited to have someone of David’s caliber join us,” adds Brian Knez, also a Managing Partner of Castanea. “David’s management background and skill set fits well with our interest in the marketing and business services sectors.”

Previous to Thomson Financial, David served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Donnelley Marketing Inc., a venture capital-backed consumer information services firm that was acquired by First Data Corporation. Prior to 1995, he was with Dun and Bradstreet for 10 years including serving as the President of AC Nielsen, North America, a company that provides market research, information and analysis to the consumer products and services industries.

David serves as a Director and Audit Committee Chair of Paychex, Inc. as well as several privately held companies including Affinity Express, and Maptuit. Previously, David has been an investor, board director and/or advisor to Black Duck, BuyerZone, and e-Dialog and was a founding investor in the management buyout of Survey Sampling, Inc., that was recently acquired by Providence Equity Partners. He also served as Director of TripAdvisor that was acquired by Interactive Corp.

About Castanea Partners
Founded in 2001, Castanea Partners is a private equity firm that invests in small to middle market companies in Publishing and Information Content, Consumer Products and Specialty Retail, and Human Resource and Business Services. Castanea combines extensive operating and private equity experience and partners with management to help them achieve superior business results.

Castanea is currently investing from its second fund, Castanea Partners Fund II, a $207 million fund that targets $10 million to $20 million equity investments in traditional management buyouts, sales of private companies, industry consolidation opportunities, and growth equity. The firm focuses on companies at a development stage where Castanea’s unique capabilities can lead to significant growth or performance improvement.

For more information about Castanea Partners, please visit www.castaneapartners.com.

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