Advanced Equities Portfolio Company MarketTools to be Acquired by TPG Growth and SurveyMonkey

CHICAGO, Dec. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Global investment banking firm Advanced Equities, Inc. announced today that one of its portfolio companies, MarketTools, Inc., a leading provider of software and services for market research and enterprise feedback management, has agreed to be acquired by TPG Growth and SurveyMonkey.

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Founded in 1997, MarketTools is a privately held market research company operating in the U.S., Canada, Europe and India. Its products include Zoomerang, an online survey application; ZoomPanel, an online sample provider; TrueSample, a data quality assurance technology; Research Solutions, a custom market research provider; and CustomerSat, an enterprise feedback management platform. Through the acquisition, TPG Growth will acquire MarketTools and transfer the Zoomerang, ZoomPanel and TrueSample businesses to SurveyMonkey in exchange for a minority stake in SurveyMonkey. TPG Growth will separately retain and expand the Research Solutions and CustomerSat businesses.

The transaction is expected to close in January 2012.

About Advanced Equities
Advanced Equities is a global investment banking firm specializing in private equity, capital markets and wealth management services. With offices in Chicago, New York and San Francisco, our team covers a broad range of clients, including high-net worth individuals, family offices, institutions and corporations, by providing comprehensive capital raising, strategic advice and wealth management expertise. Our in-depth, industry-specific expertise and regional market acumen enable our industry coverage teams to serve the evolving needs of clients around the world.

About MarketTools, Inc.
MarketTools is the leading provider of software and services for enterprise feedback management and market research. The company is focused on providing leading organizations the actionable customer insights they need to make better business decisions that lead to high-value business impact. As the first company to make online surveys widely available on the Web, MarketTools continues its market-leading position by providing the broadest range of powerful, accurate and integrated customer insight technologies that empower companies to become the most customer-centric organizations in their industries. MarketTools is a privately held company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco and European headquarters in London.

SOURCE Advanced Equities, Inc.