This filing relates solely to preliminary communications made before the commencement of a
planned tender offer by BEN Merger Sub, Inc., a Florida corporation, (“
Merger Sub”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of
BEN Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, (“
Parent”), for all of the
outstanding common stock of Bankrate, Inc., a Florida corporation,
(the “
Company”), to be commenced pursuant to the
Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated
July 22, 2009, among Parent, Merger Sub and the Company. All of the outstanding common stock of Parent
is owned by Ben Holding, S.à.r.l., a Luxembourg
société à responsabilité limiteé, which is direct and
wholly-owned by Apax US VII, L.P., a Cayman Islands exempted limited
partnership (holding 7%) and Apax WW Nominees
Ltd. (holding 93% on behalf of Apax Europe VII-A, L.P., Apax Europe
VII-B, L.P. and Apax Europe VII-1, L.P., each constituted under
English limited partnership law and domiciled in Guernsey). Apax US VII GP, L.P., a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership, is the general partner of Apax
US VII, L.P. Apax US VII GP, Ltd., a Cayman Islands exempted limited company, is the general
partner of Apax US VII GP, L.P. Apax Europe VII GP, L.P. Inc., a Guernsey incorporated limited
partnership, is the general partner of each of Apax Europe VII-A, L.P., Apax Europe VII-B, L.P. and
Apax Europe VII-1, L.P. Apax Europe VII GP Co. Ltd., a Guernsey incorporated company, is the
general partner of Apax Europe VII GP, L.P. Inc. Apax Europe VII GP,
L.P. Inc. has appointed Apax
Partners Europe Managers Limited, a company constituted under English company law, as discretionary
investment manager of the investments of Apax Europe VII-A, L.P., Apax Europe VII-B, L.P. and Apax
Europe VII-1, L.P.
The Press Release
filed herewith as
Exhibit 99.1 is neither an offer to purchase nor a
solicitation of an offer to sell securities. The tender offer for the outstanding shares of the
Company’s common stock described in this filing has not commenced. At the time the offer is
commenced, Merger Sub will file a tender offer statement on Schedule TO with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, and the Company will file a solicitation/recommendation statement on Schedule
14D-9, with respect to the offer. The tender offer statement (including an offer to purchase, a
related letter of transmittal and other offer documents) and the solicitation/recommendation
statement will contain important information that should be read carefully before any decision is
made with respect to the tender offer. Those materials will be made available to the Company’s
stockholders at no expense to them. In addition, all of those materials (and all other offer
documents filed with the SEC) will be available at no charge on the SEC’s website:
www.sec.gov.