October 22, 2004

Castanea Partners Expands Investment Team

Castanea Partners, a private equity investment firm focused on small to mid-market companies in the publishing, education, branded consumer products and specialty retail sectors, announced today that it has added a number of private equity and operational professionals to its team.

Joining the investment team as an Associate is Suzanne M. Obenshain, who recently joined the firm from Harvard Business School where she graduated with distinction. Suzanne brings to Castanea investment experience from Silver Lake Partners, a private equity investment firm with $3.6 billion under management, where she was an associate. Suzanne was also an investment professional with Morgan Stanley Capital Partners.

Also added to the investment team are Analysts Nishant Nayyar and Eurie Kim. Nishant joined Castanea Partners from Bain & Company, a leading strategy consulting firm, where he advised clients in the pharmaceuticals, industrial goods and manufacturing sectors in the United States and Singapore. Nishant also spent significant time in Bain & Company’s private equity consulting group advising clients on a variety of investment opportunities.

Eurie also joined Castanea Partners from Bain & Company where she advised corporate clients in various industries including retail, consumer products, test and measurement services, and technology sectors. Additionally, Eurie consulted in Bain’s private equity practice, advising clients on investments in enterprise software and storage, small-market media, offshore IT services, and managed care organizations.

Colleen Love and Marion Schouten recently joined Castanea as Chief Financial Officer and Director, Market Development & Investor Relations, respectively. Prior to Castanea, Colleen was Chief Financial Officer at IPeria, Inc., a provider of enhanced communications to the telecom industry. Colleen’s previous experience includes Harcourt General Inc. and The Neiman Marcus Group where she was Director of Financial Reporting.

Marion joined Castanea from Flagship Ventures, an entrepreneurship and venture capital firm, where she was Vice President Marketing Communications. Prior to Flagship Ventures, Marion was Vice President of Marketing for the Technology & Life Science Division at Imperial Bank (now Comerica Bank).

About Castanea

Castanea is a private equity firm that works in partnership with founders and management teams of innovative passion brands to grow their businesses through a combination of capital investment and operating expertise. We are focused on select consumer verticals including beauty, food and beverage, multi-unit services, and enthusiast lifestyle. We typically invest between $15 to $150 million of equity in minority or majority transactions. Our team of talented operating executives offers critical expertise in key verticals and functional areas, and provides our partner companies with strategic and tactical support. Castanea has more than $1 billion in assets under management and is currently investing from a $735 million fourth fund. For more information about Castanea Partners read our story.

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