American Public Education up 79.6% on first day after IPO

November 9, 2007

Camden Partners Holdings, LLC, a private equity firm headquartered in Baltimore, MD announces the successful initial public offering of American Public Education Inc., which debuted on the NASDAQ under the ticker “APEI” on Friday, November 9, 2007. The stock priced at $20 a share, above the initial filing range of $15 - $17 a share, and the shares closed at $35.92 on its first day of trading, representing a 79.6% increase from the offering price. The first day performance places it firmly in the top ten IPO debuts of the year.

Camden’s Strategic Partners Fund III invested $8.0 million in August 2005. Some of the proceeds of the IPO will be used to pay Strategic Partners Fund III a $13.4 million dividend. Moreover, Camden’s common shares are valued at $63.2 million based on Friday’s, November 9, 2007, closing price. The dividend and the value of the common shares represents a 9.6 times return on Camden’s investment original investment.

American Public is an online university that is based in Charles Town, West Virginia. The company runs two accredited online universities servicing the military and public service communities, the American Military University and the American Public University. 25,000 students attend the universities with the majority of the students coming from a military or federal/local law enforcement background.

About Camden Partners

Camden Partners Holdings, LLC, founded in 1995, is a diversified investment management firm based in Baltimore, Maryland. The company operates equity funds that focus on providing growth capital to emerging companies within the business and financial services, healthcare and education sectors; Camden Partners Limited Partnership, a hedge fund featuring a balanced long-short strategy focusing on small cap public companies; and Camden Private Capital, a fund-of-funds, including Corporate Finance and Venture offerings. For more information, visit http://www.camdenpartners.com.

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