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TMCNet: Authoria Announces Agreement to be Acquired by Private-Equity Firm Bedford Funding

[September 29, 2008]

Authoria Announces Agreement to be Acquired by Private-Equity Firm Bedford Funding

WALTHAM, Mass. --(Business Wire)-- Authoria, Inc., the leader in comprehensive talent management solutions, today announced that the company has agreed to be acquired by Bedford Funding - a private-equity firm with $800 million in available capital, based in White Plains, New York - for $63.1 million. In addition to the purchase price, Bedford Funding will make an additional $8-million investment in working capital to enhance Authoria's overall corporate growth. Founder Tod Loofbourrow will continue to lead Authoria as its CEO, as the company accelerates the expansion of its operations and market presence.

"Authoria is a platform for building the first billion-dollar company in talent management," said Loofbourrow. "Our partnership with Bedford brings us an investor well matched to the size of the market opportunity before us, and enables us to accelerate our next phase of growth. We continue to be chosen by the world's leading organizations - including Aetna, Citrix Systems, Exelon, Intuit, Popular, Inc., Sun Life, and many others - to fuel their drive to attract, retain, and grow top talent and to build efficient, optimized, performance-driven organizations. This partnership with Bedford Funding will provide us with a debt-free capital structure and injection of growth capital to expand our operations, drive new sales growth, and extend our leading solutions in all aspects of talent management. I look forward to leading our experienced team as we broaden our global presence."

"Bedford Funding chose Authoria for the company's impressive enterprise customer base, the breadth and depth of its new Authoria Talent Management solution, demonstrated leadership in meeting the needs of the world's largest employers, and the stellar management team," said Charles S. Jones, Managing Partner of Bedford Funding. "We see the talent-management market as one of the largest emerging markets in software-as-a-service. We look forward to working with Tod and his team to optimize and expand the company's market opportunity."

Bersin & Associates recently cited the market for Talent Management Suites to be $2.3 billion in 2008 with a 20-percent annual growth rate, yet noted that the market opportunity largely remains untapped. Authoria recently announced 93-percent year-on-year bookings growth in the second quarter of 2008.

"The critical talent challenges facing all industries - including leadership development, talent shortages, difficulty in filling key roles, and creating a performance-driven culture - are fueling the growth of integrated talent management solutions. We see this market as the next big software opportunity," said Josh Bersin, president of Bersin & Associates, a research and advisory firm. "Authoria has maintained a leadership position in this highly competitive market. The company's recent investment news has the potential to make Authoria an even stronger force. The timing is also right as large organizations are eager to leverage technology to integrate all facets of talent management and look to industry leaders, such as Authoria, to provide those solutions."

About Authoria

Authoria(R) helps the world's most competitive employers achieve superior business results, by optimizing the way they recruit, develop, compensate, retain, and engage top talent. Designed for business managers as well as HR professionals, the company's comprehensive talent management solutions enable more effective recruiting, performance management, compensation management, and succession planning across an organization. Authoria serves more than 300 large organizations and 4 million managers and employees with our on-demand Internet-based solutions. Customer companies include Aetna, Alcon, and Boeing. For more information, visit www.authoria.com.

About Bedford Funding

Bedford Funding is a private equity firm specializing in investment opportunities in the consolidating and fragmented technology sector with an initial focus on the software and IT services sectors. The firm offers extensive strategic operating and financial management expertise and advice with the intention of providing exceptional performance and financial returns for its portfolio companies and its investors. Bedford Funding serves the IT and investment communities worldwide from its headquarters located in White Plains, NY. For more information, visit www.bedfordfunding.com.

Note to editors: Authoria and the Authoria logo are registered trademarks, and Authoria Talent Management is a trademark of Authoria, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other product names and references contained herein remain the service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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