PRESS RELEASES

The Guild Raises $7 Million of Private Equity Financing

MADISON, Wis., January 11, 2006 - The Guild, Inc., the leading online retailer of original art and fine craft, announced today it has raised $7 million of private equity financing from San Francisco Equity Partners and Dolphin Equity Partners. The funding will be used to expand distribution of The Artful Home® retail catalog and further strengthen the company's online branding and marketing programs. Additionally, San Francisco Equity Partners' Scott Potter has been named chairman of the board of The Guild; Cameron Steele of San Francisco Equity Partners and Salvatore Tirabassi of Dolphin Equity Partners have joined the board of directors.

"We are very pleased to receive both the financial and strategic resources of our new partners, which will enable The Artful Home brand to realize its full potential," said Toni Sikes, founder and CEO of The Guild, now in its 21 st year of operation. "This is an exciting vote of confidence for our company and business model as we expand the consumer market for beautiful, original products for the home."

Bolstered by The Artful Home retail catalog for consumers, which debuted in 2004, The Guild has experienced strong revenue growth year over year and expects to double revenue in 2006.

"The Guild is an ideal fit within our investment focus," said Scott Potter, founder and managing partner of San Francisco Equity Partners. "Specifically, we are attracted to models that effectively integrate traditional publishing with online content or commerce, and with brands that play off of the emotive nature of the home. The Guild's technology-enabled, virtual-inventory business model makes it entirely scalable and poised for continued strong growth in the $94-billion home furnishings market."

About The Guild, Inc.
The Guild, Inc. started in 1985 as THE GUILD, a publisher of Sourcebooks to help designers and architects locate artists for commissions, while helping artists expand markets for their work. In 1999, the guild.com website and catalog were launched to bring original art and fine craft directly to consumers. Today, The Guild represents more than 1,200 artists across North America through its Sourcebooks, guild.com website and The Artful Home® catalog. One of the company's key strengths is the scalability it derives from its web-based, zero-inventory business model in which works of art are shipped directly to consumers from artists' studios nationwide. For more information please visit www.guild.com.

About San Francisco Equity Partners
San Francisco Equity Partners of San Francisco is a private equity firm focused on expansion-stage companies within the consumer, information technology, media and service industries, and has a proven track record of working with growth companies. The firm was founded in partnership with LMS Capital to offer its portfolio companies access to a global network of industry contacts and deep financial resources. For more information please visit www.sfequitypartners.com.

About Dolphin Equity Partners, L.P.
Dolphin Equity Partners, L.P. of New York specializes in investments in emerging marketing, media services, communications, enterprise services and technology companies operating primarily in the U.S. , Canada and the U.K. It currently manages over $340 million in capital. For more information please visit www.dolphinequity.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Back to top | Back to SFEP in the NEWS