Bear Stearns Hires Peter Hall for European Chemical Industry Investment Banking.

Business Editors

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2000

Bear, Stearns International Limited (BSIL) announced today that Peter Hall has joined the firm in London as a managing director and head of European chemical industry investment banking. Mr. Hall, who joins from Chase in London, reports to BSIL Chairman Jeremy Sillem and will be part of the chemical industry banking practice headed by New York-based Senior Managing Director Telly Zachariades.

Mr. Hall joins a growing international Bear Stearns group devoted to serving the strategic advisory and financing needs of chemical companies. Mr. Zachariades and Gary Denning, a managing director, joined the firm in August to lead the practice. They will be coordinating the chemicals effort with Ilan Kaufthal, who joined Bear Stearns earlier this year as a vice chairman for investment banking. In London, the team includes managing director and European Equity Research Analyst Jonathan Tyler, who provides extensive equity research coverage of the European chemicals industry.

Commenting on Mr. Hall's appointment, Mr. Zachariades said, "As we continue to increase our coverage of the chemical industry worldwide, Peter's addition gives us an important--and deeply experienced--presence in the vital European market. We believe great opportunity exists in this industry, and we are pleased that we have been able to bring aboard such a talented person to help us capture that opportunity."

During his decade at Chase, Mr. Hall was head of European chemicals mergers and acquisitions. He advised on a broad range of significant transactions in the industry, including DSM's acquisition of Catalytica, Arch's acquisition of Hickson and Solutia's acquisition of Vianova. Prior to joining Chase, Mr. Hall was a member of Drexel Burnham Lambert's corporate finance department. He holds an MBA in finance from City University Business School.

Bear, Stearns International Limited (BSIL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. BSIL currently employs more than 700 staff in London who serve corporations, institutions, partnerships and governmental entities in the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East. BSIL's capabilities include investment banking, institutional equities and fixed income sales, trading and research, derivatives, financial futures, foreign exchange and global clearing.

Founded in 1923, The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC) is the parent company of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., a leading investment banking and securities trading and brokerage firm serving governments, corporations, institutions and individuals worldwide. With approximately $24.8 billion in total capital, 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 global clearing services to broker dealers, prime broker clients and other professional traders, including securities lending. Headquartered in New York City, the company has more than 11,000 employees located in domestic offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Juan; and an international presence in Beijing, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Lugano, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. For additional information about Bear Stearns, please visit our Web site at http://www.bearstearns.com.