NEW YORK, June 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Apax Partners
("Apax") has announced the successful initial public offering of
Bankrate, Inc. (NYSE: RATE) ("the Company"), an online personal
finance portal, marking the start of the next phase of the growth
strategy for the business. Following the completion of the IPO,
Apax Funds remain the majority shareholder with approximately 70%
ownership of Bankrate's common stock.
The Company has emerged from the downturn with a leadership
position across each of its core verticals, strengthened by
numerous acquisitions, including CreditCards.com and Netquote.com
in the second half of 2010. Apax Partners worked closely with
management to identify, structure, negotiate and eventually
integrate these two businesses that significantly expanded
Bankrate's depth and breadth of offerings to consumers and
advertisers alike.
Mitch Truwit, a partner at Apax,
comments: "These acquisitions strengthened Bankrate's leadership
position in online personal finance. They allowed Bankrate to
achieve even greater scale and to further diversify its revenue
streams, making it a great candidate for a return to the public
markets -- particularly given the continuing appetite amongst
investors for high-quality, high-growth Internet companies."
Apax Partners has been a meaningful investor in online sales and
distribution platforms via its investments in Trader Media in the
UK, SouFun in China and Trader
Corporation in Canada. Amidst a
cyclical downturn in financial services advertising, Apax Funds
acquired Bankrate in August 2009 for
$571 million in an all-equity
investment. Following significant cutbacks in marketing budgets
during the downturn, financial institutions have now refocused on
brand promotion and customer acquisition, and Bankrate is
well-positioned to strongly benefit from this recovery.
Funds advised by Apax Partners indirectly sold 6,782,962 shares
of the common stock of Bankrate, Inc. in the Company's IPO of 20
million shares of common stock, which was priced at the mid-point
of the range at $15.00 per share on
June 16, 2011. Underwriters
were also granted an option to acquire another 2,456,612 shares
from these funds. Bankrate's shares began trading on
June 17, 2011, on the New York Stock
Exchange under the trading symbol "RATE." At the offer price of
$15.00, Bankrate has a market
capitalization of $1.5 billion.
About Bankrate, Inc.
Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator and distributor of
personal finance content on the Internet. We provide consumers with
proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and
objective personal finance editorial content across multiple
vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance,
credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile
loans, and taxes.
About Apax Partners
Apax Partners is one of the world's leading private equity
investment groups. It operates across the
United States, Europe and
Asia and has more than 30 years of
investing experience. Funds under the advice and management
of Apax Partners globally total around $40
billion. These Funds provide long-term equity
financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. Apax
Partners Funds invest in companies across its global sectors of
Tech & Telecom, Retail & Consumer, Media, Healthcare and
Financial & Business Services. For more information visit:
www.apax.com.
Contacts:
Ben Harding
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7872 6401
Email: ben.harding@apax.com
Todd Fogarty
Tel: +1 212 521 4854
Email: todd-fogarty@kekst.com
SOURCE Apax Partners