June 19, 2009

Celerity Partners merges Portal Holdings with Ascension Insurance, Inc.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEAS 

Celerity Partners merges Portal Holdings with Ascension Insurance, Inc.

Kansas City, MO (June 19, 2009) Celerity Partners announced the completed merger between Portal Holdings, a Celerity portfolio company specializing in heath care benefits administration for the not for profit sector, and Ascension Insurance, Inc., a specialty property and casualty insurance brokerage and benefits administration company principally owned by Parthenon Capital and Century Capital. The transaction simultaneously accomplished the acquisition of Renaissance Agencies, the largest independent insurance brokerage in the US specializing in student health insurance, currently covering 75 institutions of higher learning in California and 160,000 student lives. Ascension is now in the top thirty of all insurance brokers by size in the United States. Celerity, which rolled the entirety of its position in Portal and invested new capital in the transaction, retains an active role, including Ascension board representation.

Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., Ascension is a full-service insurance and employee benefits agency providing high-level brokerage and risk management services specifically to middle-market companies nationwide. Ascension expects to grow to $200 million in revenue over the next five years.

Celerity Partners is a private equity fund whose objective is to build businesses in partnership with management. Since its inception in September 1995, Celerity has invested in over 60 companies with an aggregate transaction value of $2.7 billion. Celerity has offices in Los Angeles and Menlo Park, California. Visit www.celeritypartners.com for more information.