Kepler Capital Markets (KCM) is pleased to announce that the transaction to raise new capital and bring onboard new minority shareholders is closed as of Friday, 14th October. The final shareholdings in KCM are as follows: Staff & Management 53%, BlackFin Capital Partners 21%, La Caisse des Dépôts 14%, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa 7%, Banca Leonardo 5%. The shareholder equity of the group is € 84m which gives KCM a Basel II ratio of over 40%. The group has no debt. The equity brokerage business of Banca Leonardo will be integrated into KCM’s Italian operation from Monday, 17th October.

Commenting on the closing, Laurent Quirin, CEO of KCM, stated "At a time when many of our bigger competitors face the possibility of being recapitalized either by their national government or by the ECB, we can be pleased with our high cash balance and debt-free status. We can confidently pursue our strategy to create a European financial services company with activities in Equity Brokerage, Fixed Income IDB and Agency, Derivatives, Structured Products and Corporate Finance".

About Kepler Capital Markets
Kepler Capital Markets is a leading independent European financial services company specialised in intermediation and advisory services. The company is majority owned by employees and management. In April 2011, KCM announced the entry of investors who have taken a 47% stake in the company: la Caisse des Dépôts, Gruppo Banca Leonardo, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and BlackFin Capital Partners. The group consists of 330 employees. KCM is active in equity research and brokerage, fixed income, derivatives, structured products and corporate finance. KCM has built a reputation for the quality and independence of its research and intermediation via its multi-local platform in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Zurich and New York.

Please visit Kepler Capital Markets for further details.

Contact Information
Robert Buller, Media Spokesman
Tel + 33 (0) 1 53 65 35 79

Source: Kepler Capital Markets press release