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Press Release September 19, 2005 Hennessey Capital Solutions and Babcock & Brown Establish Joint Venture to Meet the New York , NY. – International investment and advisory firm Babcock & Brown (ASX: BNB), and Hennessey Capital Solutions. (HCS) announced today they have formed a joint venture to provide financing to supply chains worldwide. This joint venture will implement the HCS EarlyPaytm platform, enabling suppliers to accelerate receivables as needed to meet demands for extra capital, strengthen balance sheets, lower financing costs and/or cash flow. As part of the transaction, Babcock & Brown and ColumbusNova Partners, a New York-based investment fund, have committed US$45 million in subordinated financing to the joint venture and have also retained a significant equity stake in HCS. HCS expects to leverage this capital with senior debt financing, which should enable the joint venture to initially provide up to $300 million of financing. “The combination of HCS’ outstanding technology and risk management capabilities and Babcock & Brown’s financial capabilities should enable HCS, and the joint venture in particular, to take full advantage of the outstanding opportunities available in the marketplace,” said Dan Brickman, Global Head of Structured Finance of Babcock & Brown. Businesses in many supply chains are forced to rely heavily on inflexible and expensive lending to finance working capital requirements. HCS developed its HCS EarlyPaytm program to address this problem and easily adapt to any supply chain environment. HCS now has the ability to significantly scale its HCS EarlyPaytm offering within the automotive industry and to establish its presence in other industries, including electronics, chemical/pharmaceutical, heavy manufacturing, retail and technology; these industries typically have significant levels of working capital tied up in financing extended payment terms. HCS and Babcock & Brown expect this to be the first step in a joint effort to build a global platform for HCS’s EarlyPaytm supplier financing services. “Our program is a win for both buyers and their suppliers. In addition, our joint venture with Babcock & Brown, a firm with critical expertise in asset finance and growing and developing finance businesses on a national and global scale, gives us the opportunity to expand the business rapidly,” said Tom Cross, President of HCS Payment Services. About Babcock & Brown Babcock & Brown operates from 18 offices across Australia, the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa and has in excess of 550 employees worldwide. Babcock & Brown has five operating divisions including real estate, infrastructure and project finance, operating leasing, structured finance and corporate finance. The company has established a funds management platform across its operating divisions that has resulted in the establishment of a number of focused investment vehicles in areas including real estate and infrastructure. For further information please see our website: www.babcockbrown.com About HCS Capital Solutions. About ColumbusNova Partners
Contact: Sherry Tompkins |