ULTIMUS SECURES $10 MILLION INVESTMENT FROM ADVENT INTERNATIONAL

March 2004 – Ultimus, the leading provider of complete business process management (BPM) and workflow automation solutions, today announced that the company has secured a $10 million investment from Advent International.  Michael Pehl, Partner, and Kathleen O’Donnell, Principal, from Advent will join Ultimus’ Board of Directors.

The investment will provide Ultimus the capital to take advantage of new growth opportunities across international markets and to strengthen its global team, establishing a solid foundation for the future. Ultimus will focus on increasing sales, marketing, and service operations in both North America and several emerging growth areas including Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

“BPM is poised to become the next big software category and is a significant investment priority for organizations across nearly every industry, as it enables companies to increase efficiency and decrease overall costs,” said Michael Pehl of Advent. “At Advent, we invest in companies that can lead new and emerging markets. After evaluating the BPM landscape, we concluded that Ultimus has the proven management team, world-class product, track record of success, and the strong and growing customer base necessary to become the dominant player in this industry.”

The funding comes as Ultimus closed out its most successful year, having grown 62% while continuing its string of 7 straight years of profitability. In 2003 the company unveiled version 6 of the Ultimus BPM Suite, the most advanced BPM solution available. In addition, Ultimus was recognized with a number of awards including the Technology Fast 500 from Deloitte & Touche and the Inc. 500, and was favorably positioned in many industry analyst reports. Also in 2003, Ultimus expanded its global presence opening offices in Europe and Latin America.

“A significant investment from an astute leading investor such as Advent lends further credibility to Ultimus’ successful business model developed over 9 years, our award-winning product, and the success of our customers in implementing BPM across their organizations,” said Rashid Khan, CEO of Ultimus.  “With Advent as a partner, we are in a much stronger position to enhance our position as a market leader.”

About Advent International
Advent International is one of the world’s largest private equity firms, with $6 billion in cumulative capital raised and offices in 13 countries across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Since its founding in 1984, Advent has invested in over 500 companies and has helped businesses raise $10 billion through public equity and debt offerings. These include 130 IPOs on major stock exchanges worldwide. Advent is committed to helping management teams build successful businesses by applying its industry expertise, international resources and local market knowledge. For more information, visit www.adventinternational.com.

About Ultimus
A pioneer in Business Process Management and workflow automation, Ultimus is a profitable, global software company that enables enterprises worldwide to increase their profits by modeling, automating, managing, and optimizing every business process. Ultimus has business operations and sales offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and South America. Through these offices and a network of more than 85 partners in 60 countries, more than 1,000 customers, including Carnival Cruise Lines, Citizens Bank, McKessonHBOC, Microsoft, Newell Rubbermaid, Sony, and Siemens, have deployed the Ultimus BPM Suite to address their business process management challenges. Ultimus and its partners use the Ultimus Workflow Development Methodology to standardize implementations, accelerate deployments, and enable continuous improvement.

Headquartered in Cary, NC, the company is a three-time recipient of the Technology Fast 500 Award from Deloitte & Touche and is listed among the Inc. 500 for the second year. Additional information about Ultimus can be obtained by visiting the Ultimus Web site at http://www.ultimus.com, emailing , or by calling 919-678-0900.