ACAS American Capital, Ltd.

BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Capital Strategies Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS) announced today the appointment of Greg Smitherman as Managing Director. He is working in the Technology Group's Palo Alto, California office. Mr. Smitherman brings over 18 years of investing and acquisition experience in the enterprise infrastructure, communications, networking and electronics sectors. "We are pleased to announce that Greg Smitherman has joined the American Capital Technology Group, further enriching our group," said American Capital Managing Director Gordon O'Brien. "Greg, with his exceptional experience investing in the technology sector, will play a key role in the Technology Group's growth and development." American Capital has invested $5 billion in the last twelve months, approximately $3.5 billion year to date and $1 billion quarter to date. These amounts do not include American Capital's unfunded equity commitment to its affiliate European Capital. For more information about American Capital's portfolio, go to http://www.americancapital.com/our_portfolio/our_portfolio.cfm. "Since the inception of the American Capital Technology Group, we have been focused on building a world class team," said American Capital Managing Director and Group Head Virginia M. Turezyn. "We have deep technical and strong operating team members and Greg is a valued addition. He brings a blend of technical, analytical, and senior management skills for us to leverage as we pursue a robust pipeline of investment opportunities. Our strategy is to evaluate and invest in a broad range of venture and technology opportunities and collaborate with other groups in the firm, as appropriate, to offer a full suite of offerings to prospective clients ranging from early stage growth equity to expansion capital and debt financing." "I am delighted to be joining the outstanding American Capital organization and excited about being part of expanding this important initiative within the firm," said American Capital Managing Director Greg Smitherman. "We believe that the American Capital Operations Team, whose extensive experience in evaluating business process, implementing change and creating financial stability and strength in a wide range of portfolio companies will be a key leverage point for the advancement of early stage as well as mature technology company investments." Prior to joining American Capital, Mr. Smitherman was a partner at Advent International, a $10 billion global private equity firm. Before joining Advent, he was with Ameritech Development's venture capital and acquisition group for nine years. He has served on numerous boards of technology companies and on the investment committee of TMT Ventures, a venture fund focused on the communications, technology, e-commerce and media sectors. Mr. Smitherman earned a B.S.E. in aerospace engineering, summa cum laude, from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL TECHNOLOGY American Capital has approximately $1 billion in technology investments in its existing portfolio. These companies generally are mature, high performing, cash flowing companies with excellent growth rates. They operate across many industry sectors and are driven by a broad range of technologies. The Technology Group extends American Capital's existing technology investment business by investing in earlier stage technology companies. The American Capital Technology Group invests in early, middle and late stage technology companies as well as mature companies driven in significant part by a specific technology. With the flexibility to invest senior debt, subordinated debt and equity from $5 million in early stage companies to $400 million in more established companies, the American Capital Technology Group can leverage its capital base and domain expertise to build category-leading companies. ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL American Capital is a publicly traded buyout and mezzanine fund with capital resources of $8.9 billion. American Capital invests in and sponsors management and employee buyouts, invests in private equity buyouts, provides capital directly to early stage and mature private and small public companies and through its asset management business is a manager of debt and equity investments in private companies. American Capital provides senior debt, mezzanine debt and equity to fund growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations and securitizations. American Capital invests up to $400 million per company. As of August 31, 2006, American Capital shareholders have enjoyed a total return of 476% since the Company's IPO -- an annualized return of 21%, assuming reinvestment of dividends. American Capital has paid a total of $1.2 billion in dividends and paid or declared $21.56 dividends per share since its August 1997 IPO at $15 per share. Companies interested in learning more about American Capital's flexible financing should contact Mark Opel, Senior Vice President, Business Development, at (800) 248-9340, or visit http://www.americancapital.com/. Performance data quoted above represents past performance of American Capital. Past performance does not guarantee future results and the investment return and principal value of an investment in American Capital will likely fluctuate. Consequently, an investor's shares, when sold, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Additionally, American Capital's current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted above. This press release contains forward-looking statements. The statements regarding expected results of American Capital Strategies 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 American Capital has made investments. DATASOURCE: American Capital Strategies Ltd. CONTACT: Virginia M. Turezyn, Managing Director, Technology Group, +1-650-289-4560, Greg Smitherman, Managing Director, Technology Group, +1-650-289-4560, or Brian Maney, Director, Corporate Communications, +1-301-951-6122, all of American Capital Strategies Ltd. Web site: http://www.americancapital.com/

Copyright