Qatalyst Partners: Adrian Dollard, Frank Quattrone and Jonathan Turner. (PRNewsFoto/Qatalyst Group) SAN FRANCISCO, CA UNITED STATES
		Frank Quattrone.(PRNewsFoto/Qatalyst Group) SAN FRANCISCO, CA UNITED STATES

    Qatalyst Partners to Provide M&A, Corporate Finance Advice; Qatalyst
Capital Partners to Make Principal Investments



    SAN FRANCISCO, March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Frank P. Quattrone announced
today that he and some former colleagues are launching a new financial
services venture called Qatalyst Group, a technology-focused merchant
banking boutique, headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Qatalyst Partners,
its investment banking business, will provide high-end merger & acquisition
and corporate finance advice to technology companies globally. Qatalyst
Capital Partners, its investing business, will make selective principal
investments, typically alongside leading venture capital and private equity
firms.



    (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080318/DC16989-a )

    (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080318/DC16989-b )



    Qatalyst Partners will provide high quality, independent advice to the
senior management teams and boards of the technology industry's established
and emerging leaders on strategic matters crucial to their growth and
success. Qatalyst's advisors will combine a broad network of relationships
with deep sector knowledge and seasoned M&A expertise to deliver a
superior, senior level of service for clients who value experience,
judgment, candor and insight. In addition to merger & acquisition advice,
Qatalyst Partners will use its team's extensive corporate finance and
capital markets experience to advise companies on capital structure and
capital raising alternatives, and will selectively raise private capital
for clients. While it will not engage in public securities research, sales,
trading or brokerage, Qatalyst Partners may participate as advisor or
underwriter in clients' public offerings.



    "The launch of Qatalyst is an important development for the technology
industry," said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google. "Frank and his
team bring unparalleled industry knowledge, a unique 25-year market
perspective and candid, insightful judgment that CEOs greatly value on
important strategic initiatives. I look forward to working with him again
and am very enthusiastic about Qatalyst's prospects for success."



    Mr. Quattrone has advised technology companies globally since 1981
while building successful technology banking franchises for Morgan Stanley,
Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse. Qatalyst's initial founders include
Jonathan Turner, a technology M&A expert, who was formerly Global Head of
Credit Suisse's Internet group and most recently served as Vice President
of Corporate Development for online marketing leader QuinStreet; Adrian E.
Dollard, formerly General Counsel of Credit Suisse's Technology group and a
lawyer at Shearman & Sterling specializing in M&A, corporate finance and
venture capital; and Neil Chalasani, most recently a Vice President with
Evercore's Technology, Media & Telecom group; and will include Brian
Slingerland, most recently a Vice President with Goldman, Sachs' Technology
Media & Telecom group; and Brian Cayne, most recently an Associate at Vista
Equity Partners. Qatalyst plans to expand its founding team over the next
few months.



    "Frank's level of experience, wisdom and candor are unique assets that
can make a significant difference to the long-term success of his clients,"
said Bill Campbell, Chair of the Board of Intuit. "He is equally adept at
providing sophisticated advice to the Boards of global giants on 'bet the
company' transactions, and in coaching and nurturing the management teams
of next generation leaders to help them achieve their dreams. I'm very
excited about collaborating with him in his new venture."



    Frank Quattrone, Qatalyst's co-founder and CEO said "We will serve our
clients as a catalyst for positive change by helping them navigate the
forces affecting their industries, analyze the implications for them and
their competitors, and develop and execute strategies to maximize long-term
shareholder value. We believe the experience, perspective and judgment at
the core of our advice will be of value to our clients, especially during
challenging environments such as these."



    Advisory boutiques have gained increasing prominence on blockbuster M&A
transactions over the past few years as CEOs and boards have valued
objective, senior level advice from independent firms without the potential
conflicts inherent in multi-service institutions with commercial lending,
securities distribution and large private equity divisions. However, to
date there has not been a high-end boutique dedicated to the global
technology industry.



    "There is an enormous opportunity for an independent, high caliber
advisory firm focused on the global technology sector," said Jim Breyer, a
partner of venture capital firm Accel Partners. "Frank is truly
world-class, both as a trusted advisor and a builder of excellent
technology banking teams, and we look forward to working with him and his
terrific team at Qatalyst."



    Gideon Yu, CFO of Facebook, formerly CFO of YouTube and SVP/Treasurer
of Yahoo! added "Jonathan Turner has provided superb advice on some of the
most important transactions of my career, combining tremendous sector
insight with excellent deal savvy. I am excited about the opportunity to
work with him and his partners at Qatalyst."



    Over the past three decades, Mr. Quattrone and the teams he has led
have advised global technology companies on more than 400 mergers and
acquisitions with an aggregate transaction value over $500 billion, and on
more than 350 financings that raised over $65 billion. Qatalyst's founders
have advised clients including: Accenture, Adobe, Agilent, AOL, Apple,
Amazon.com, Applied Materials, Ascend, Baidu, Cisco, Cypress Semiconductor,
Google, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Ironport, Jamdat, KLA, Linear
Technology, Lucent, National Semiconductor, Netscape, Nortel, Omniture,
Oracle, Orbitz, PCCW, Riverbed, Shopping.com, ST Microelectronics,
Submarino, Synopsys, SynOptics, 3Com, VeriSign, VERITAS, Webex, Xilinx and
Yahoo!



    Qatalyst Partners has submitted an application for registration as a
broker-dealer with the SEC and has applied for membership in FINRA, the
securities industry self-regulatory authority. While these applications are
pending, Mr. Quattrone and his team will operate as Qatalyst, a division of
JMP Securities, so that they can begin to advise clients immediately.



    "We chose to associate with JMP Securities due to its high quality
overall reputation as a firm, my personal relationship with and confidence
in its President Craig Johnson, and the complementary fit between our
firms," Quattrone said. "While the period of this formal association will
be temporary by design, Qatalyst and JMP will seek opportunities to refer
each other business and support each other's success over time."



    "We are excited that Frank Quattrone and his partners chose to
associate with JMP," said Craig Johnson, President of JMP Group. "We are
pleased to be in a position to assist Qatalyst with its formation, knowing
it will be a valued resource for its clients for years to come, and look
forward to a long-term relationship between our firms." JMP Securities LLC
is a wholly owned subsidiary of JMP Group Inc. (NYSE: JMP), a San Francisco
based investment bank that provides investment banking, sales and trading,
and equity research services to corporate and institutional clients and
alternative asset management products to institutional and high-net-worth
investors.



    Quattrone summed up by saying "My partners and I are passionate about
the opportunity to build a world-class firm whose global network of
relationships and high quality, responsive, independent, senior level
advice can make a significantly positive long-term difference for our
clients."

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