ACAS American Capital, Ltd.

BETHESDA, Md., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Capital Strategies Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS) announced today that it had invested $58 million to support the acquisition of BondDesk Group LLC by Advent International. BondDesk Group is the largest electronic trading system focused on odd-lot fixed income transactions, those of less than $1 million in par value. American Capital's investment takes the form of senior and junior subordinated debt and equity. American Capital also acted as co-lead arranger for a senior debt syndicate being led by Merrill Lynch Capital. BondDesk management is also investing in the equity, alongside Advent International and American Capital. "This is our first time working with Advent International, adding a new sponsor relationship to our growing list of sponsors. Advent's team of professionals brings valuable experience to the investment, having already made several successful financial technology and services investments," said American Capital Regional Managing Director Brian Graff. "We're delighted to support Advent in their acquisition and look forward to working with them to continue to build out the BondDesk platform and obtain its growth potential." American Capital has invested approximately $4.7 billion in the last twelve months, approximately $3.5 billion year to date and approximately $1 billion in the third quarter. These amounts do not include American Capital's unfunded equity commitment and debt funded to its portfolio company European Capital. For more information about American Capital's portfolio, go to http://www.americancapital.com/our_portfolio/our_portfolio.cfm. "BondDesk has garnered a leading, defensible market position by integrating its customized software onto the platforms of many financial industry leaders. More than 75,000 brokers and investment advisors have access to the BondDesk Alternative Trading System," said Sean Eagle, American Capital Principal. "The Company offers a compelling value proposition to a wide range of broker-dealers by streamlining the trading process. Retail financial advisors and their clients also benefit by gaining access to an efficient and transparent marketplace for over 30,000 fixed income securities. BondDesk's unparalleled service offerings and attractive recurring revenue- based business model make it ideally positioned to benefit from continued growth within the broader fixed income markets." Founded in 1999, BondDesk facilitates the electronic trading of odd-lot, primarily retail related fixed income instruments through its Alternative Trading System (ATS). The BondDesk ATS, run by BondDesk's broker-dealer subsidiary, BondDesk Trading LLC, connects broker-dealers through a centralized marketplace by offering a diverse pool of liquidity. By creating a unique and flexible trading system, BondDesk gives its clients access to over 30,000 live taxable and tax-exempt offerings from over 90 leading dealers. These clients currently execute over 20,000 transactions per day on the ATS. BondDesk also offers additional services and software tools designed to facilitate the trading process. The Company is based in Mill Valley, CA and has key offices in California, Michigan, and New York. "As the baby boomer generation ages, we believe that the BondDesk ATS will be an important part of meeting the growing demand for fixed income securities. American Capital shares our vision for BondDesk and was able to support our acquisition with the necessary financing," said Chris Pike, Advent International Partner. "We look forward to working with American Capital to expand BondDesk so that it continues to provide market-leading systems and solutions to retail financial advisors and fixed income traders alike." 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 from $5 million to $400 million per company. As of September 30, 2006, American Capital shareholders have enjoyed a total return of 500% since the Company's IPO -- an annualized return of 22%, assuming reinvestment of dividends. American Capital has paid a total of over $1.2 billion in dividends and paid $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/. ABOUT ADVENT INTERNATIONAL Advent International is one of the world's leading global buyout firms, with over $10 billion in cumulative capital raised and offices in 14 countries across North America, Latin America, Western and Central Europe and Asia Pacific. Since its founding in 1984, Advent has invested in more than 500 companies and has helped businesses raise over $10 billion through public equity and debt offerings. These include over 130 IPOs on major stock exchanges worldwide. In 2005, Advent realized over 30 full and partial exits and raised three new buyout funds totaling over $4 billion. Advent's portfolio of securities/trading related investments includes: Datek Online, a leading online broker; GFI Group, a leading inter-dealer broker of OTC derivative products; and Island ECN, one of the largest electronic communications networks. 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: Sean Eagle, Principal, +1-301-951-6122 or Brian Maney, Director, Corporate Communications, +1-301-951-6122, both of American Capital Strategies Ltd. Web site: http://www.americancapital.com/

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