LYNBROOK, N.Y., April 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Student Marketing Group, Inc. and
National Honor Roll, L.L.C. announced their acquisition by Nelnet, Inc.
(NYSE: NNI) on Tuesday, March 29.
Student Marketing Group is a full service direct marketing agency
providing a wide range of products and services to help businesses cost
effectively reach the middle school, high school, college bound high school,
college, and young adult marketplace. A division of Student Marketing Group,
College Bound Selection Service provides marketing services and college bound
student lists to college and university admissions offices nationwide. In
addition, Student Marketing Group operates AllScholar.com, a free scholarship
search Web site.
National Honor Roll recognizes middle and high school students for
exceptional academic success by providing publication in the National Honor
Roll Commemorative Edition, as well as scholarships, a College Admissions
Notification Service, and notice to local newspapers and elected officials.
"Student Marketing Group and National Honor Roll each bring a strong
reputation and a wealth of different experiences building marketing
relationships with students and schools," said Stephen Butterfield, Vice
Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Nelnet. "These acquisitions will
further diversify our revenue stream and provide an opportunity to leverage
their intellectual capital and wealth of direct marketing expertise in our
future operations."
Based in Lynbrook, New York, Student Marketing Group and National Honor
Roll will operate as separate, wholly owned subsidiaries of Nelnet. Each
company will retain its brand identity, management, and employee base.
Student Marketing Group founder and President Jan Stumacher said: "We are
excited to join the Nelnet family. The combined companies will make
tremendous resources available to our customers."
The purchase price of the acquisitions will range between $31 million and
$51 million, based on the performance of the acquired companies. The
acquisitions are expected to be immediately accretive, though not material, to
Nelnet's base net income.
In conjunction with Nelnet's acquisition of Student Marketing Group and
National Honor Roll, Jan Stumacher made an equity investment in Nelnet by
purchasing 141,376 restricted shares of Nelnet's Class A Common Stock from
Angela Muhleisen in a privately negotiated transaction representing the sale
of less than 1% of Ms. Muhleisen's beneficial ownership of Nelnet stock. Ms.
Muhleisen is the sister of Co-CEO Mike Dunlap but is not an officer, director,
or employee of Nelnet. Mr. Stumacher's purchase of the Nelnet stock closed on
March 31, 2005.
Nelnet is one of the leading education finance companies in the United
States and is focused on providing quality student loan products and services
to students and schools nationwide. With more than $13 billion in student loan
assets, Nelnet originates in excess of $3 billion for itself and its service
partners annually, and its servicing software is used by approximately 35
clients, including Nelnet, to service more than $50 billion in student loans.
Nelnet ranks among the nation's leaders in terms of total student loan assets.
Nelnet offers a broad range of student loan and financial services and
technology-based products, including student loan origination and lending,
guarantee servicing, and a suite of software solutions. Our products are
designed to simplify the student loan process by automating financial aid
delivery, loan processing, and funds disbursement. Our services help to
facilitate and streamline education finance for all involved in the industry,
including student and parent borrowers, lenders, financial aid officers,
guaranty agencies, governmental agencies, servicers, and the capital markets.
Additional information is available at http://www.nelnet.net.
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