Boston, MA and Sao Paulo, Brazil -- March 6, 2006 -- Great Hill Partners announced that in December 2005 it acquired a majority interest in BuscaPé.com, Inc., the leading online comparison shopping destination in Latin America. Great Hill was the sole investor in the all-equity transaction, with BuscaPé's founders and current management team retaining a significant ownership position.
Founded in 1998, BuscaPé is the leading online comparison shopping website in Brazil, providing price and product comparison services for products sold both online and offline. The Company also recently launched operations in Argentina, Chile and Mexico.
Michael Kumin, Partner at Great Hill, commented, "BuscaPé represents an exciting opportunity to capitalize on the strong growth expected in the Brazilian e-commerce industry. The Company has built a premier branded shopping destination by providing a comprehensive, value-added user experience." Christopher Gaffney, Managing Partner of Great Hill, added, "We are excited to work with the BuscaPé founders to help the Company increase its user base, strengthen its brand recognition, and expand its Latin American presence."
Romero Rodrigues, Co-Founder and CEO of BuscaPé, said, "The addition of Great Hill Partners as an investor provides BuscaPé with the financial and strategic resources needed to reach its long-term growth objectives. With Great Hill as a partner, the Company is poised to become the preeminent shopping resource for Latin American consumers."
As part of the transaction, Michael Kumin and Christopher Gaffney will join BuscaPé's Board of Directors.
About BuscaPé.com
BuscaPé.com, founded in 1998 in Sao Paulo, is the leading provider of online comparison shopping services in Brazil and recently launched operations in Argentina, Mexico and Chile. BuscaPé allows over seven million unique visitors per month to search and compare products and prices for over seven million categorized products from more than 38,000 mechants. The Company is also the exclusive provider of shopping solutions to more than 40 portals and 1,000 network affiliates. For more information, visit www.buscape.com.
About Great Hill Partners
Great Hill Partners is a private equity firm that manages over $1.2 billion in capital and focuses on investments in growth companies operating in the business services, media, communications, information, education and IT sectors. Great Hill Partners targets equity investments of $20 million to $100 million. For more information, please visitwww.greathillpartners.com.
