Compass, Rondelli Announcement

Compass Advisers Forms Exclusive Partnership with Rondelli Advisers

LONDON and NEW YORK November 13, 2006 – Compass Advisers, LLP, the international investment banking partnership, announced today that it has entered into an exclusive partnership agreement with Rondelli Advisers s.r.l. to advise on cross-border M & A transactions involving Italian companies.  The new joint venture will be called Compass, Rondelli Advisers and will be headed by Philip Keevil, Compass Advisers' senior partner in London, and Saverio Rondelli who recently left West LB, where he was head of investment banking in Italy, to form his own M & A boutique.

      In Italy's largest LBO so far in 2006, Mr. Rondelli advised Candover on its €1.7 billion acquisition from Permira (announced on 27 October) of a majority interest in Ferretti SpA, one of the world's leading manufacturers of high performance luxury motor yachts.

      Commenting on the formation of Compass, Rondelli Advisers, Philip Keevil said:  "We are delighted to form this strategic partnership with one of the leading M & A practitioners in Italy.  Since Saverio and I worked together as colleagues at Salomon Smith Barney I have admired his expertise and professionalism.  Our joint venture fills an important missing piece in Compass Advisers' European coverage, complementing the coverage we already have in France, Germany, Switzerland, Benelux and the Nordic region."

      Mr. Rondelli added:  "Forming this strategic partnership with Compass Advisers creates opportunities to serve our mutual clients better and provide more complete geographic access.  Compass will offer Italian clients access to a unique pool of expertise from highly experienced senior M & A bankers of the kind usually only available to larger corporates.  I am delighted that we will be able to expand Compass's footprint in Europe, as well as leveraging their capabilities in the U.S.  This positions us strategically to take advantage of the increasing tide of cross-border Italian M & A activity which we anticipate over the next few years."