Douglas R. Korn Named Chief Operating Officer of Bear Stearns Merchant Banking

Business Wire, Feb 15, 2001

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February 15, 2001

Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. announced today that Douglas R. Korn, senior managing director, has been named Chief Operating Officer of Bear Stearns Merchant Banking (BSMB), the firm's private equity unit. Bear Stearns also announced that Richard L. Perkal has joined BSMB as a managing director.

Mr. Korn joined Bear Stearns in 1998 and has been closely involved in many of BSMB's investments, as well as the management of the group. Mr. Korn joined the firm with over 15 years of private equity and investment banking experience. From 1994 through 1998 he was a managing director of Eos Partners, L.P. Prior to that he was with Blackstone Group, the leveraged buyout firm. Mr. Korn holds a BSE from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School, where he was a George F. Baker Scholar. He is a director of Bally International AG, Fitz and Floyd Holdings, Frances Meyer, Inc., Interxion N.V. and Trinagy, Inc.

Mr. Perkal brings over 18 years of transactional experience to Bear Stearns. He was previously with Kirkland & Ellis, a national law firm, where he was the head of its Washington, D.C. transactional practice. Mr. Perkal is also a founding shareholder and a director of several private companies.

Under the direction of founder and managing partner John Howard, Bear Stearns Merchant Banking is comprised of a dedicated team of 21professionals. BSMB invests private equity capital in compelling leveraged buyout, recapitalization and growth capital opportunities. BSMB manages over $1.5 billion of capital and has invested in 26 companies since 1997.

Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., a leading worldwide investment banking and securities trading and brokerage firm, is the major subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC). With approximately $26.3 billion of total capital, Bear Stearns serves governments, corporations, institutions and private investors worldwide. The company's business includes corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, institutional equities and fixed income sales, trading and research, private client services, derivatives, foreign exchange and futures sales and trading, asset management and custody services. Through Bear, Stearns Securities Corp., it offers prime broker and broker dealer services, including securities lending. Headquartered in New York City, the company has approximately 11,200 employees located in domestic offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco; and an international presence in Beijing, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Lugano, San Juan, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. For additional information, please visit the company's website at www.bearstearns.com.