6/21/2001
HOUSTON, Texas—The parent company of Arrangeonline.com, publisher of the National Obituary Archive (NOA)™, announced today it has closed $7.5 million in new financing for the operator of the world’s largest publisher of obituaries and death records.
The parent company, Final Arrangements, LLC of Houston, said the funds will be used to redeem all outstanding “Class B” units of the company and to fund ongoing operations of the year-old venture’s online subsidiary.
Nadine Smith, President of Final Arrangements, said the new funding was raised primarily from Aegis Insurance Holding Co., L.P., a previous investor in the privately held company. “We have made important progress on several strategic initiatives over the last year and appreciate Aegis Insurance Holding Co.’s significant financial investment as solid endorsement of the strength of our business model,” Ms. Smith said.
With the latest funding, Final Arrangements, LLC has raised nearly $16 million in three rounds to launch Arrangeonline.com and to fund important strategic initiatives associated with Continental Computer Specialties, Inc. of Jonesboro, Ark. The Board of Managers agreed to hold the financing round open through July to give other unitholders and potential investors an opportunity to purchase up to $2.5 million more in equity on the same terms as those extended to Aegis.
Final Arrangements is a holding company that owns Arrangeonline.com and Continental Computer, developer of the most popular software for managing funerals and funeral homes.
Funeral directors traditionally facilitate the publication of obituaries and paid death notices in local newspapers by collecting information from families and delivering it to newspapers, handling the financial transaction as well. The National Obituary Archive™, now the largest repository of obituaries and death records in the world with nearly 50 million individual listings, works with those same funeral directors to build a permanent archive freely available to people everywhere, regardless of where they live or what newspaper they may read. Friends and family may customize obituaries, add their own personal tributes, send flowers to the bereaved and exchange news and memories with each other.
Continental has modified its software to enable its 5,000 funeral home clients to upload obituaries to the National Obituary Archive™ with a single mouse click, thus streamlining the obituary publication process for the funeral home and the family. Funeral homes that don’t use Continental’s software can post obituaries using a simple, Web-based form.
Ms. Smith said that redemption of the Class B units from the original owners of Continental Computer and Continental’s continuing profitability put Final Arrangements on a firm financial footing that will enable the company to maintain the rapid development and growth of Arrangeonline.com.
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