Sector
Lifestyle & Learning

Location
Dallas, TX

Employees
40

2002 Revenue
$55MM

Web Site
www.voyagerlearning.com

05 January 2004
Voyager Returns 43% of Capital in Dividend to Investors

Dallas-based private equity group Black Knight Partners, LP recently announced that Voyager Expanded Learning, Inc. will distribute a dividend returning of 43% of its initial investment.

Voyager (http://www.voyagerlearning.com) is the nation's largest provider of extended-time reading and adventure-based programs in America's public schools.

Following two years of research and a year of extensive field testing, Voyager began a national rollout in 1997. In less than three years, Voyager's learning systems were operating in more than 1,000 of the nation's largest school districts across forty-five states.

Today, more than 135 public school educators, researchers, and nationally known curriculum writers make up the Voyager organization. In addition, strategic partners such as the Smithsonian Institution, Discovery Channel, and NASA provide world class content.

Voyager has set a new standard for excellence in American education, converting the dream of leaving no child behind into the reality of Universal Literacy®.

Black Knight Partners, LP manages an investor group formed by the firm's founding partner, Rob Holmes, that participated in the start-up round of capital for Voyager in 1996.

On the news of the dividend, Mr. Holmes stated: "Voyager is an exciting company with a superior management team. It is truly having a dramatic, positive impact on children across the nation. We're proud to have been with Voyager from the very beginning."

In 1994, a diverse group of Americans met to explore ways of converting their successful careers into lives of social significance. Voyager Expanded Learning emerged from those deliberations.

Led by its Chairman, Dallas investor Randy Best, the mission of Voyager is to focus the experience and resources of its founders, board members, and staff on helping public schools ensure that every child has a successful educational experience.

Over the last seven years, Voyager has attracted leaders, investors, and partners from across all political, geographic, and industry lines to support this initiative with America's public schools.

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