Dublin Business School Acquires European Business School Dublin

DUBLIN, Ireland, March 27 /PRNewswire/ --

Dublin Business School (DBS), Ireland's largest private undergraduate institution and a subsidiary of Kaplan, Inc., has acquired the European Business School (EBS) Dublin, a private third-level institution specializing in the provision of international business programmes. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"The acquisition of EBS Dublin complements our own study abroad programme and opens up a new European market for DBS," said Gerry Muldowney, CEO of DBS. "We are enthusiastic about the possibilities that EBS offers and look forward to building that business."

Established in 1975, DBS offers a wide range of programmes in business, media, the humanities and psychology. It has approximately 6,000 students with 300 staff members, who provide an array of undergraduate, postgraduate and professional programmes.

EBS Dublin, founded in 1993, is a member of the EBSI Group, a collective of eight independent business schools located throughout Europe. The school offers a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses for study abroad students. Francis Kelly, the school's founder and managing director, owned a majority stake in EBS Dublin prior to the DBS acquisition.

"This is an exciting development for European Business School Dublin," Kelly said. "Our integration into DBS will add significant value to the educational experience of our students, given DBS' excellent academic reputation, its facilities and services."

Kelly will continue to run the EBS Dublin programmes following the acquisition. The school, which will share space with a DBS site in central Dublin, will retain its name.

Kaplan, one of the world's leading providers of educational services and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO), acquired DBS in 2003. Kaplan's other international holdings include: FTC Kaplan (formerly The Financial Training Company), a leading provider of test preparation services for accounting and financial service professionals in the U.K., Hong Kong and Singapore; Holborn College, a U.K. leader in international education; Asia Pacific Management Institute (APMI), one of Asia's largest private education providers based in Singapore; Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, the world leader in test preparation with services provided in 19 countries outside the United States; and Kidum, a leading provider of test preparation in Israel.

Kaplan also operates international colleges with the University of Sheffield and Nottingham Trent University in the U.K.

About Kaplan

Kaplan, based in New York, provides higher education, professional training, test preparation, K12 learning programs and publishing services. Kaplan, which had 2005 revenue of more than US$1.4 billion, is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO). For more information about Kaplan, please visit http://www.kaplan.com.

Contact: Gerry Muldowney (Ireland) CEO, DBS +353-1-4177-547 gerry@dbs.edu Donal Quill (Ireland) Director, DBS +353-1-4177-545 donal.quill@dbs.edu Michele Snipe (US) PR, Manager Kaplan, Inc. +1-212-492-5941 michele.snipe@kaplan.com

Web site: http://www.kaplan.com