European Capital Strengthens Frankfurt Team

St. Peter Port, Guernsey (ots/PRNewswire) -

European Capital Financial Services Limited ("European Capital"),
the sub-investment manager of European Capital Limited (LSE: ECAS),
is pleased to announce, as part of the company's further expansion
in the German market, the appointment of Bernd Schaessburger as an
Investment Director. The appointment is effective September 1. Bernd
joins the Frankfurt based team headed by Managing Director Robert
von Finckenstein, which was successfully ramped up during the past
months and now numbers four professionals. A fifth member has been
hired and will join the team shortly. This completes the initial
team of European Capital in Frankfurt.

"We believe that a strong local team will enable European Capital
to expand its pan-European mezzanine activities significantly," said
Nathalie Faure Beaulieu, Managing Director and Head of Pan European
Mezzanine at European Capital.

European Capital is an affiliate of American Capital Strategies
Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS), a U.S.-based publicly traded alternative asset
manager with approximately US$17(1) billion in assets under
management. April 2007 saw the opening of the Frankfurt office, which
works together closely with the European mezzanine team headed by
Nathalie Faure Beaulieu in London.

With the opening of the Frankfurt office, and the assembling of an
experienced local team, European Capital is poised to tap the
attractive opportunities available in the German market. Since
inception, European Capital has, through its offices, already made
significant commitments providing mezzanine capital to seven German
transactions. European Capital has thus positioned itself as a
leading independent mezzanine investor in Germany.

German team with wide-ranging experience

Bernd Schaessburger boasts a broad range of mezzanine experience.
Prior to joining European Capital, Bernd worked in the mezzanine
finance industry at DAM Capital in London and, before that, at
Dresdner Kleinwort, Frankfurt, spending two years at each. His
responsibilities included origination and the structuring and
execution of new investments. Previously, he spent about five years
as an investment manager at a German private equity firm, where he
was involved in transactions across a variety of industries as well
as exit management. During this time, Bernd also served as a
supervisory board member at portfolio companies. Bernd holds a
Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Siegen.

Hans Twietmeyer joined European Capital in June 2007 as an
Investment Director in the company's Frankfurt office. Prior to
joining European Capital, he worked in the Leveraged Finance Division
at Societe Generale for three years and, prior to that, in the
Leveraged Finance Division at Royal Bank of Scotland for about four
years. Hans was involved in structuring and arranging numerous
transactions, including LBOs, real-estate and project finance-related
projects. Hans began his career at Deutsche Bank. He holds a Diploma
in Economics from the University of Gottingen.

Robert von Finckenstein has been Managing Director and head of the
Frankfurt office of European Capital since 2007. Prior to that, he
was Managing Director and Co-Head at Dresdner Anschutz Mezzinvest
("DAM") in London. At DAM Advisors, he originated mezzanine and
subordinated debt transactions with an aggregate value of some euro
300 million for German Mittelstand companies.

Further members of the European Capital team in Frankfurt
currently include Tuomas Erik Ekholm, Associate, and Miriam
Schroeder, Office Manager.

ABOUT EUROPEAN CAPITAL

European Capital is a closed-end investment company for
pan-European equity, mezzanine and senior debt investments with
capital resources of approximately euro 2.3 billion (US$3.2 billion).
European Capital invests in and sponsors management and employee
buyouts, invests in private equity buyouts and provides capital
directly to private and public companies headquartered predominantly
in Europe. European Capital generally invests between euro 5 million
and euro 500 million per transaction in equity, mezzanine debt and
senior debt to fund growth, acquisitions and recapitalizations.

Companies interested in learning more about European Capital
should contact Robert von Finckenstein at +49-(0)-69-71-71-297-0 in
Frankfurt, Nathalie Faure Beaulieu or Simon Henderson at
+44-(0)-20-7539-7000 in London, Jean Eichenlaub at
+33-(0)-1-40-68-06-66 in Paris, or Luis Felipe Castellanos at
+34-91-745-99-63 in Madrid, or visit the website at
www.EuropeanCapital.com.

ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL

American Capital Strategies Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS), is an affiliate
of European Capital and the only alternative asset management company
that is a member of the S&P 500. With US$17(1) billion in assets
under management, American Capital is the largest U.S. publicly
traded private equity firm and one of the largest publicly traded
alternative asset managers. American Capital, both directly and
through its global asset management business, is an investor in
management and employee buyouts, private equity buyouts, and early
stage and mature private and public companies. American Capital
provides senior debt, mezzanine debt and equity to fund growth,
acquisitions, recapitalizations and securitizations. American Capital
and its affiliates invest from US$5 million to US$800 million per
company in North America and euro 5 million to euro 500 million per
company in Europe.

(1) Assets under management is an estimate of internally and
externally managed assets as of July 31, 2007 and does not include
any fair value adjustments subsequent to June 30, 2007.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. The
statements regarding expected results of European Capital and/or
American Capital are subject to various factors and uncertainties,
including the uncertainties associated with the timing of transaction
closings, changes in interest rates, availability of transactions,
changes in regional, national or international economic conditions,
or changes in the conditions of the industries in which European
Capital and/or American Capital has made investments. start_table>

ST. PETER PORT, Guernsey, September 13 /PRNewswire/ --

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

http://www.americancapital.com

ots Originaltext: European Capital Financial Services Limited
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de