First Sierra Financial Inc. Acquires Cascade Leasing Company

Business Wire, Sept 12, 1997

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 12, 1997-- First Sierra Financial, Inc. entered into a Letter of Intent with Cascade Leasing Company of Wenatchee, Washington on Aug. 14, 1997. First Sierra and Cascade have agreed to all material terms and expect to close this acquisition on Sept. 15, 1997. Cascade is First Sierra's ninth acquisition since July 1996. Tim and Jan Cetto founded Cascade Leasing Company 13 years ago. Cascade is a small ticket, equipment finance company that specializes in providing financing to the equipment rental industry through a network of vendors. Cascade is active in the financing of small ticket agricultural equipment and other equipment finance opportunities in the northwestern United States. Cascade has historically generated approximately $30,000,000 of annual lease volume at average implicit rates of between 16 percent and 18 percent.

First Sierra's Chief Executive Officer, Tom Depping, is quoted: "The Cascade acquisition will allow FSF to rapidly penetrate the equipment rental vendor market. The addition of Tim Cetto, President of Cascade, to our management team brings one of the best marketing minds in the small ticket leasing industry."

Tim Cetto, President of Cascade, is quoted: "We are very excited about the opportunities that are now available to us. FSF's capital and substantially lower cost of funds will allow us to implement nationwide marketing programs which we feel will substantially increase our lease volume. We came to the realization that we needed to consolidate and studied many alternatives. FSF was our first choice and we are thrilled to be part of this young exciting company."

"Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

The statements quoted in this release regarding potential growth of First Sierra's vendor programs and the benefits of First Sierra's acquisition of Cascade and its affiliation with First Sierra are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. First Sierra's or Cascade actual results could differ materially. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include risks associated with First Sierra's acquisition strategy, potential inability to sustain increasing volumes of lease receivables, competition and the other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of First Sierra's initial Registration Statement on Form S-1 and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. First Sierra wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which statements are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and as such, speak only as of the date made.

CONTACT: First Sierra Financial, Inc.

Thomas Depping, 713/229-6800

or

Sandy Ho, 713/229-6801