TRANSACTION DESCRIPTION
Lazard Middle Market represented The Riverside Company in the sale of its portfolio company, Keepsake Quilting, Inc., to New Track Media LLC, an affiliate of Boston Ventures.  Keepsake is a direct marketer of quilting and other crafting supplies.

THE COMPANY
Keepsake (www.keepsakequilting.com) has grown from its founding in 1986 to become the nation’s leading multi-channel retailer of quilting supplies. In addition to its flagship Keepsake Quilting title, the company’s catalogs include Patternworks (knitting supplies), NeedleArts (needle working supplies) and PaperCrafts (scrap-booking supplies). In each segment, the company deploys an integrated marketing program that combines direct mail with email and web-based customer strategies. Keepsake’s loyal and enthusiastic customers are also drawn to its destination-style retail outlet in Center Harbor, New Hampshire.

TRANSACTION HIGHLIGHTS
New Track Media, publisher of Love of Quilting magazine, saw the acquisition of Keepsake as a unique opportunity to leverage its publishing assets with Keepsake’s productive customer list and thereby gain a greater share of the growing quilting market. Keepsake President Rob O’Brian and his management team were retained by the buyer and will continue to operate the business from its headquarters in Moultonborough, New Hampshire.

THE BUYER
BVK Holdings, the parent of New Track Media LLC (www.newtrackmedia.com), was formed in 2005 by Stephen J. Kent and Boston Ventures (www.bostonventures.com) to build a premier platform of consumer enthusiast publishing assets. The growth plan for BVK Holdings builds on the partners' successful backgrounds in special interest magazines, books, web-based products and other ancillary businesses such as conferences and shows.

THE SELLER
The Riverside Company (www.riversidecompany.com) is the largest private equity firm focused on the lower end of the middle market. Since 1988 the firm has invested in 170 transactions with a total enterprise value of $3.4 billion.  Its portfolio includes 59 businesses in the United States and Europe with combined annual sales of $3.0 billion. The Riverside Company employs 135 professionals in 16 offices in New York, Cleveland, Dallas, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Budapest, Munich, Prague, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid, Tokyo and Stockholm.

ABOUT LAZARD MIDDLE MARKET
Lazard Middle Market, a subsidiary of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ), provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and financings to the middle market. Formed in 2007 with the acquisition of Goldsmith Agio Helms, Lazard Middle Market has approximately 90 professionals in Minneapolis, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Shanghai. For more information on Lazard Middle Market, please visit www.lazardmm.com.

If you would like more information about this transaction, contact Gary O'Brien (gary.obrien@lazardmm.com) at 612-339-0500.