TradeOne Marketing, Inc. Has Been Acquired by Centiv

HOUSTON, January 11, 2012 — GulfStar Group is pleased to announce the sale of TradeOne Marketing Inc. (“TradeOne” or the “Company”) to Centiv Services, LLC (“Centiv”), a portfolio company of The Riverside Company (“Riverside”). GulfStar served as the exclusive financial advisor to TradeOne throughout the transaction, which closed on December 22, 2011.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, TradeOne is a leading provider of technology-enabled services to large Fortune 500 companies in a variety of industries, creating programs that include various incentive programs, rebate plans and loyalty programs. The Company specializes in cooperative advertising, which involves ads or marketing collateral used by channel partners including agents, franchisees and dealers advertising on behalf of TradeOne’s corporate clients.

“GulfStar did an excellent job navigating our team throughout this important transaction,” said TradeOne President Dan Hickox. “We are very excited about joining Centiv and look forward to many years of growth as we work together in building an even stronger market presence.”

The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm focused on acquiring growing enterprises valued at up to $200 million. The firm partners with strong management teams and enhances its investments through acquisitions and organic growth. Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 275 transactions with a total enterprise value of approximately $7.3 billion. TradeOne will join a platform company of Riverside, Centiv Services, a company dedicated to building, designing and executing localized marketing campaigns. Centiv’s expertise lies in helping large brands tailor advertising and marketing for local and regional needs using a variety of mediums like in-store point-of-purchase advertising and promotional materials, print ads, sales collateral, coupons and direct mail. Centiv also has a broad suite of cross-media campaign management capabilities.

The GulfStar Group transaction team included Managing Director Colt Luedde, Senior Vice President Joe Watt, Associate James Berry and Associate Chase Stanzel. “We are very proud to have been involved in this transaction,” said Colt Luedde. “TradeOne is a great company that will endure for years to come as it continues the next phase of its corporate life.”

About GulfStar Group
GulfStar Group is a leading middle market investment and merchant bank headquartered in Houston, Texas, with a strong market presence in Austin, Dallas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. GulfStar specializes in providing merger and acquisition advisory services, institutional private placements of equity and debt, restructuring and turnaround advisory services and general corporate finance advisory services to companies with revenue or enterprise values generally ranging from $25 million to $350 million. Since its formation in 1990, GulfStar has completed over 500 transactions in more than 30 states and six foreign countries across a variety of industries. Through its merchant banking affiliate, the firm also makes equity and subordinated debt co-investments.

Securities offered through GulfStar Group I, an affiliated entity, member FINRA – SIPC.