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Press Release
Rackable
Systems, Inc. Secures $21M Funding to Expand Leadership in Server and
Storage Solutions
- Parthenon Capital Backs Next Stage Growth, Extends
Management Capabilities with Executive Appointments -
SAN JOSE, CALIF., February 3, 2003 — Rackable Systems,
Inc., a leading provider of rack mount high-density server and storage
solutions, announced today that it has secured $21 million from Parthenon
Capital to fund the company's growth initiatives. The company also
announced Parthenon's backing of two industry veterans who will be
responsible for driving the company's next stage of growth. The executive
appointments include Tom Barton, new President and CEO, formerly a
member of the senior management team at Red Hat and Cygnus Solutions;
and Todd Ford, CFO, who has successfully led financial and organizational
growth at FCC, Raster Graphics and other high growth companies in the
industry. Parthenon Capital is a $1.1 billion private equity firm that
provides capital and strategic management resources to middle-market
companies.
"Rackable Systems competes and wins in the fastest growing segments
of the server market by offering superior products and technology,"
said Brian Golson, a Principal at Parthenon Capital. "Tom and
Todd bring a wealth of industry experience and expertise to bear, and
we look forward to teaming with them to solidify Rackable's leadership
position."
"We welcome Parthenon's expertise in strategic management, as
we focus on building the Rackable Systems sales, marketing, and manufacturing
infrastructure," said Tom Barton, President and CEO. "We
see tremendous opportunity to extend Rackable's presence in this large
and rapidly growing market."
Parthenon Capital maintains a strong releationship with its sister
company, The Parthenon Group ("TPG"), a leading management
consulting firm. "We leverage the deep strategic and operating
knowledge of our team (TPG) to help companies achieve their Full Potential™,"
said Will Kessinger, West Coast Office Head. "Helping entrepreneurial
growth companies like Rackable Systems institutionalize business processes
and build their execution capability is what we do everyday."
Since the company's founding in 1999, Rackable Systems has successfully
competed in the rack mount server and storage space, attracting such
major customers as Electronic Arts (EA), Inktomi, Stanford Linear Accelerator
(SLAC), UC Santa Cruz (Human Genome Project), and Yahoo. Rackable offers
unsurpassed open standard, Intel architecture-based products and technology,
for customers needing dense, high-performance, flexible computing and
storage solutions. Rackable's customers leverage the company's broad
based expertise in Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris/X86 and Windows to deliver
best of breed solutions. The company's ability to deliver its products
at a low total cost of ownership (TCO) makes Rackable an ideal choice
in the data center market.
Giovanni Coglitore, one of Rackable Systems' founders, will transition
from CEO to CTO. "Rackable is already the clear solution for sophisticated
data center managers. The combined team of Rackable, Tom, Todd and
Parthenon Capital will allow us to more aggressively market the business."
Parthenon Capital, with offices in Boston and San Francisco,
is a $1.1 billion private equity firm focused on providing capital
and strategic resources to enable middle-market companies to
achieve their Full Potential™. For more information, visit www.parthenoncapital.com.
ABOUT RACKABLE SYSTEMS
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Jose, California, Rackable
Systems leads the industry in large-scale data center deployment solutions.
Through innovative design, patented technology and commitment to customer
service, the company offers a broad line of server products that can
be rapidly deployed in data centers and other demanding IT environments.
Serving leading-edge technology companies, universities and research & development
organizations, Rackable Systems' customers include Biogen, Cold Springs
Harbor Laboratories, Deutsche Bank, Electronic Arts, Lawrence Livermore
Labs, nVidia, SLAC, Sony America, Tellme, Webex and Yahoo!.
To learn more about Rackable Systems, visit (http://www.rackable.com),
call 408-240-8300 or write to info@rackable.com.
Rackable Systems is a registered trademark
of Rackable Systems®, Inc. All other trademarks are property
of their respective holders.