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Sector
Lifestyle & Learning

Location
Pleasant Hill, CA

Employees
90

2002 Revenue
$20MM

Web Site
www.gettravel.com

19 April 2002
Black Knight Partners Invests $2 Million in GET Travel

Dallas-based Black Knight Partners, LP closed a $2 million private placement in San Francisco-based GET Travel Group, LLC, the nation's leading student leisure tour operator.

Rip Hunter, CEO & President of GET Travel, announced the deal, saying, "This is the first step in taking our company to the highest levels of the travel industry. We are very excited about the future."

Founded in 1985, GET Travel registered over 73,000 participants for its group tours in 2001. The company operates trips destined for ski and beach destinations across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. GET Travel has developed nationally recognized brand names, Invasion Tours®, Adventures America®, and LA Ski & Sun Tours®, which it uses to market its trips to groups nationwide. Of note, Adventures America® is the largest single ticket purchaser for Disneyland's Grad Night, buying over 23,000 tickets annually. CEO Rip Hunter and his brothers, Dave and Rich, founded the company and have built a track record of high standards and seventeen years of growth since.

Rob Holmes, Founding Partner of Black Knight Partners, remarked, "We see GET Travel as a solid platform for internal growth and possibly add-on acquisitions. The company is growing and profitable. It has a committed management team, an established franchise, and the infrastructure to develop rapidly."

CEO Rip Hunter, 44, acknowledged the company's new investors, saying, "Black Knight's investment is a statement of faith in our management team and also a challenge for us to deliver going forward. We appreciate their trust, and we welcome the challenge."

In related news, the company announced record earnings in 2001, and forecast significant earnings growth in 2002. GET Travel also added two new members to its Board of Directors: Rob Holmes, of Black Knight Partners, LP, and Jim O'Donnell, Partner with First Capital Group of Texas, LP.

Mr. Holmes, 35, is a graduate of West Point, the London School of Economics, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He founded buy-out firm Black Knight Partners, LP after seven years of operating and corporate development experience in turnaround and start-up private companies. His firm references the nickname for West Point's US Corps of Cadets, the "Black Knights of the Hudson."

Mr. O'Donnell is a graduate of Rhodes College and the Wharton School of Business. He has been a venture capital and private equity investor for over twenty years, investing in over 150 companies in a variety of industries. He is currently a partner with First Capital Group of Texas, a licensed Small Business Investment Company with total capital under management in excess of $150 million and a strong track record of successful investments.

POC: Rob Holmes, 214 695 4243