Exodus from Bulge Brackets to Boutiques Continues

Boston, MA (July 5, 2004) -- Continuing a market trend, Bob Mann, former Managing Director and Co-Head of Credit Suisse First Boston’s NY-based Technology M&A Group, has joined investment banking boutique Revolution Partners, LLC as a Managing Director. In doing so, he follows the path of industry peers such as Hal Ritch, former head of Global M&A at Citibank, and Martin Murrer, former head of Middle-Market M&A at Merrill Lynch, who have recently left large Wall Street banks for M&A boutiques catering to middle market clients. Additionally, the IPO of M&A specialist Greenhill & Co. in May of this year drew bankers’ attention to how lucrative the boutique model can be versus employment at one of the giant, global commercial banks that have largely replaced what used to be referred to as the ‘Bulge-Bracket’ of leading investment banks.

“It has become increasingly difficult to provide M&A advice at the large firms without becoming entangled trading, lending and research conflicts”, Mann said. “And the smaller, growth companies that I prefer working with always wind up on the losing side of conflicts with larger corporate clients of the big banks.”

Prior to CSFB’s $12 billion acquisition of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Mann was co-head of that firm’s Technology M&A Group, where he helped to build DLJ’s market-leading IT Infrastructure and Business Services industry practice. His notable transactions include TRW’s three-part sale to Northrop Grumman, Goodrich and the Blackstone Group for an aggregate of approximately $18 billion (IDD 2002 M&A Deal of the Year), USinternetworking’s restructuring and recapitalization by an affiliate of Bain Capital, Exodus Communication’s $6.5 billion acquisition of GlobalCenter, Inc., Qwest Communication’s merger with US West, Metamor Worldwide’s $1.35 billion sale to PSINet and COMSAT’s sale to Lockheed Martin. Mr. Mann also has extensive experience advising middle-market and small technology companies in exploring a variety of strategic alternatives. He graduated with honors from Trinity College and obtained his MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth.

Matt Behrent, who worked directly with Mann at CSFB and previously practiced law at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, has joined Revolution Partners as a Vice President. At Revolution, Mann and Behrent will leverage their extensive experience and industry contacts to expand the firm’s banking relationships with IT infrastructure and business process services firms.

Revolution Partners’ 15 bankers have a wealth of experience gained from their years spent leading prominent mergers and financings at major investment banks and law firms. In the past three years, despite very difficult conditions in the private and public markets for technology firms, Revolution has successfully executed 20 transactions on behalf of its clients. Said David Lavallee, co-founder of Revolution Partners and another CSFB alumnus: “In serving the needs of technology-oriented growth firms and their investors, we are filling a void left by the disappearance of quality, smaller firms such as Alex Brown and Robertson, Stephens, and the abandonment of the middle market by the larger firms.”

Founded in January 2001, Revolution Partners is a Boston-based technology investment banking firm that services a wide range of technology sectors. In their previous positions at Credit Suisse First Boston, Robertson Stephens, DLJ and Broadview, the firm’s professionals executed transactions exceeding $50B in value, including some of the most successful equity offerings and mergers in history. Revolution Partners is committed to applying this senior-level experience to challenging transactions in the historically under-served technology middle market.