August 1, 2002

M&A Monitor produces a database which analyzes selected corporate mergers and acquisitions. The M&A Monitor database is subscribed to by the majority of the world's largest financial advisory institutions and is universally acknowledged as providing the most detailed and analytically rigorous M&A data commercially available. The primary purpose of the M&A Monitor database is to provide users with access to the highest quality corporate valuation data through the analysis of precedent transactions. The information derived from this allows users to:

• Analyze valuation trends within sectors or transaction types
• Review individual transactions of competitors
• Track significant M&A activity within sectors
• Assess the critical reaction of financial press commentators

M&A Monitor provides deal information on transactions that fall into two broad categories:

• All bids for UK quoted companies announced since January 1, 1992, provided the transaction involved a potential change of control of the target company.
• Both Public and Private transactions in the following sectors are covered on a Europe-wide basis:
  • Food & Beverages
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Telecommunications
  • Internet, Cable TV, Broadcast Media
  • IT (Services/Software)
  • IT (Hardware)
  • Banking

The deals in these sectors are subject to certain inclusion criteria such that the transactions overwhelmingly comprise deals with valuation data and multiples.

For the month of August, M&A Monitor is offering up to $300.00 of information -- FREE! Simply download information from the M&A Monitor database on Alacra and you will automatically be credited up to $300.00 from your total M&A Monitor usage for August.**

Detailed analysis of single transactions typically include:

• Commentary on the transaction outlining the structure of the deal, the parties involved, reasons for the transactions
• Market reaction, if any, giving a synopsis of how the market perceived the deal
• Company details outlining the activities of the target and historical performance where available
• Summarized accounts of the target
• Payment details which provide a breakdown of the consideration paid and debt assumed
• Transaction multiples comprising (where available) three equity value multiples (Price/Sales, Price/Earnings and Price/Book) and three enterprise value multiples (EV/Sales, EV/EBITDA, EV/EBIT).

Sample Banking Deal Report
Sample Industrial Deal Report

**This offer applies to any downloads from the M&A Monitor database on Alacra during the period August 1-31, 2002. Any amounts over $300.00 are the responsibility of the customer.

For more information, please contact Alacra at 1 888 333 0820 within the US, 1 212 363 9620 in New York or 44 (0)20 3059 5765 in Europe, or email us at [email protected].