Progress Partners Completes Third M&A Transaction in 2009

AMP Agency's Acquisition of Rock Coast Media Points to Busy Year for Boutique Finance(1) and M&A Advisory Firm


CAMBRIDGE, MA--(Marketwire - August 4, 2009) - Progress Partners, a finance(1) and M&A advisory firm, announced today that it has served as the exclusive financial advisor for Rock Coast Media in its sale to Boston-based, AMP Agency, a full-service digital and experiential marketing agency. Under the terms of the agreement, Rock Coast Media, an interactive marketing agency focusing on search engine marketing, search engine optimization and social media strategy, joins AMP Agency. With the addition of Rock Coast Media, AMP significantly enhances its comprehensive client offerings with innovative digital marketing capabilities.

"Progress Partners helped drive an efficient, organized and effective transaction process and they certainly lived up to their reputation," said Gary Colen, CEO of AMP Agency. "The acquisition of Rock Coast Media's search capabilities rounds out our agency's integrated social and display advertising solutions, allowing marketers to optimize their online investment. The web 2.0 environment is pushing marketers to rethink their digital strategy and they should have the ability to partner with an agency which provides comprehensive strategy and deployment services under one budget, and optimize against it."

This acquisition marks the third merger and acquisition transaction for Progress Partners in 2009. Last month, the firm announced that it served as the exclusive financial advisor to Going, Inc. in its sale to AOL under the counsel of Progress Partners' Senior Managing Director, Nick MacShane. Going was a portfolio company of Highland Capital Partners and General Catalyst. In January, a third Progress Partners client, CMWare, Inc., a mobile media company funded by Updata Partners, was acquired by LiveCargo, Inc.

Progress Partners also announced today that it has retained new office space at the Cambridge Innovation Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Progress Partners also maintains an office in New York City.

"Progress remains very active due to our nimble size, exclusive focus and extensive network of contacts, which enable us to achieve great results for our clients -- even in these challenging economic times," said Tae Suk Chang, Vice President, Progress Partners, Inc.

The Progress Partners team facilitates these transactions as registered representatives of Brill Securities, Inc. (www.brillsec.com).

About Progress Partners

Progress Partners is a Boston- and New York-based finance(1) and M&A advisory firm, with a specific focus on new media and technology, that works with owners and management of emerging growth companies to plan for, build and realize business value.

(1) All investment banking activity is done through Brill Securities, Inc., member FINRA, MSRB, SIPC.

Contact Information: Contact: Kendra Boccelli 978-499-0844