Avondale Partners Expands Institutional Sales & Trading Operations in Nashville and Philadelphia Offices Through Addition of Eight Veteran Professionals.

Business Editors

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2004

Avondale Partners today announced the expansion of its institutional sales and trading operations through the addition of eight experienced institutional equity sales and institutional trading professionals in its Nashville, TN and Philadelphia, PA offices.

Commenting on the announcement, Pat Shepherd, Managing Partner, remarked, "Today's announcement reflects Avondale's commitment to providing the highest quality institutional equity services to our clients throughout North America and Europe. In the past two years, Avondale has steadily expanded its operations by attracting experienced industry professionals from across the country. Our newest colleagues share our dedication to building strong, long-term institutional and corporate relationships through superior sales performance, outstanding trading execution, high quality, independent research and value-added investment banking. We believe we have a tremendous opportunity to build a leading capital markets business based on these strengths, and we are confident we are developing the team to achieve this objective."

Institutional Equity Sales:

Tom Landstreet has joined Avondale Partners as a Managing Director and Sales Manager for its Institutional Equity Sales Group. Mr. Landstreet, who is based in Nashville, was previously a Director in Institutional Sales at The Robinson Humphrey Company in Atlanta, GA. He also was a founder and Sales and Marketing Director of IDOC a software company based in Los Angeles, CA. Mr. Landstreet received a BA degree from Auburn University, and in addition to his management responsibilities, will be covering accounts on the west coast.

Gregory Feldman comes to Avondale Partners as Vice President, Institutional Equity Sales, having previously worked in institutional sales and retail sales for Salomon Smith Barney in Atlanta, GA. Previously, he was a financial analyst for both Media One and Scientific Atlanta. Mr. Feldman received MBA and BA degrees from Emory University. Working from the Nashville office, he will be covering accounts in the New York area.

Zack Bowen has joined Avondale Partners' Philadelphia office as a Director, Institutional Equity Sales, covering accounts in New York and the mid-Atlantic markets. Prior to Avondale Partners, Mr. Bowen was Managing Director and head of Institutional Equity Sales and Trading for Commerce Capital Markets, a subsidiary of Commerce Bancorp Inc. He has also worked in institutional equity sales for Janney Montgomery Scott; Kemper Securities; Swergold Chefitz and Sinsabaugh; Freimark Blair; and Butcher and Singer. Mr. Bowen received an MBA degree from Rutgers University and a BA degree from State University of New York at Binghamton.

Matt Gehring joins Avondale Partners as a Director, Institutional Equity Sales in the Nashville office. He was previously Vice President, Institutional Sales at Stephens, Inc. and at J.C. Bradford & Co. Mr. Gehring, who received his MBA degree from Vanderbilt University and his BA degree from Hope College, will cover accounts in Utah, Denver, Kansas City and the mid West.

Andre Youanovitch comes to Avondale Partner's Nashville office as a Director, Institutional Equity Sales and will cover accounts in Texas and the Southeast. Having received his BS degree from Vanderbilt University, Mr. Youanovitch also formerly worked at Stephens, Inc. as Vice President, Institutional Sales and at SunTrust Equitable as a Director, Institutional Sales.

Institutional Trading:

Patrick Harkins joins Avondale Partners as Vice President and Sales Trader. He was previously a sales trader with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, CA and a NASDAQ market maker and sales trader with Robertson Stephens in San Francisco, CA. Mr. Harkins, who is working in Avondale Partners' Nashville office, began his career at McDonald and Company in Cleveland, OH, having graduated from Vanderbilt University.

Gabe Mathews has also joined the Nashville office as a Sales Trader, coming from a similar position at Stephens Inc. Mr. Mathews was previously an OTC trader for Dempsey & Co. on the Chicago Stock Exchange and also worked with Wachovia Securities in Charlotte, NC, serving on the discount trading desk and as a Registered Options Principal. He received a BA degree from the University of North Carolina.

John Ware has joined Avondale Partners' Philadelphia office as a Sales Trader having previously served in a similar position at Commerce Capital Markets in Philadelphia. Previously, Mr. Ware was a Managing Director with Alex. Brown & Sons in Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Ware's primary focus will also be institutional accounts in the mid-Atlantic area. He received his BA degree from Hampden-Sydney College.

Avondale Partners, LLC is a leading institutional investment bank headquartered in Nashville, TN. The firm focuses on providing high quality equity research, sales and trading and investment banking services to institutional clients throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe.