Bear Stearns Expands Health Insurance Investment Banking Practice.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 18, 2002

Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. announced today that it is expanding the firm's Health Insurance Investment Banking practice with the hiring of Benjamin Adams, a banker specializing in health insurance services companies and Blue Cross Blue Shield plans. Mr. Adams joins the firm as a Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group of Investment Banking.

Commenting on the hiring, David Platter, head of Bear Stearns Financial Institutions Group, said, "We have built a tremendous amount of momentum in serving managed care and Blue Cross Blue Shield plans and the addition of Ben to our team will help us continue growing our business. His industry expertise and his experience working with a number of the top health insurers in the world will prove extremely valuable to our clients."

Bear Stearns is one of the leaders in managed care and Blue Cross Blue Shield investment banking and most recently served as the sole financial advisor to Trigon in its estimated $4.3 billion merger with Anthem.

Mr. Adams was previously with Credit Suisse First Boston where he was a Director in the Health Care Group responsible for new business generation and leading execution teams on a broad range of equity, equity-linked, high yield, bridge loan, merchant banking and M&A transactions. Throughout his career Mr. Adams has worked closely with many of the top health insurance companies and Blue Cross Blue Shield plans. Mr. Adams received his undergraduate degree from Tufts University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Founded in 1923, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. is a leading worldwide investment banking and securities trading and brokerage firm, and the major subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE:BSC). With approximately $31.0 billion in total capital, Bear Stearns serves governments, corporations, institutions and individuals 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 clearing and securities lending. Headquartered in New York City, the company has approximately 10,500 employees located in domestic offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Juan; and an international presence in Beijing, Dublin, Herzliya, Hong Kong, London, Lugano, Milan, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. For additional information about Bear Stearns, please visit the firm's Web site at http://www.bearstearns.com.