Blaylock & Partners Expands into Municipal Finance; Firm Names Public Finance Veteran Stephanie D. Neely as Group Managing Director.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2004

Blaylock & Partners, L.P., an institutional brokerage and investment banking firm, announced today that it has formed a municipal finance group. The Chicago office is headed by Stephanie D. Neely, formerly managing director of public finance for LaSalle Capital Markets, a division of ABN Amro Financial Services.

Ms. Neely's group also includes two other industry veterans with a combined 48 years of municipal bond experience. Former Merrill Lynch director Stephen T. Lang joins Blaylock & Partners as managing director, Municipals & Derivatives, and former JP Morgan public finance banker Robert "Ken" Hedrick, Jr. joins as managing director with responsibility for the West Coast and Texas.

Municipal finance is a natural extension of Blaylock & Partners' business. The firm has its origins in fixed-income and has since added equity research and sales capabilities.

"This is an ideal time to enter the municipal finance market," said Ronald E. Blaylock, the firm's Chairman and CEO. "With historically low interest rates likely to rise, it's expected that there will be a rash of municipal underwritings coming to market before financing costs start moving upwards. Ms. Neely is well-known and widely respected in municipal finance, and her joining our firm underscores our commitment to this business."

Prior to joining LaSalle, Ms. Neely worked in the municipal finance groups of Banc One Capital Markets, the former Paine Weber and the former Smith Barney. She holds a Masters in Business Administration from The University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Smith College.

Mr. Lang, who will be based in San Francisco, was most recently with ABN Amro in San Francisco, where he was director and producing manager of the Western Region Debt Derivatives Group. Previously, he spent 10 years at Merrill Lynch as director of Western Region Debt Derivatives.

Mr. Hedrick, also to be based in San Francisco, joins Blaylock & Partners with over 28 years of experience in public finance. He was most recently managing director at Jackson Securities, an Atlanta-based investment bank that services institutional and retail clients, where he managed that firm's Public Finance Group and Jackson Financial Products LLC. Previously, he spent over 10 years at JP Morgan as the firm's senior public finance banker in Texas.

Also joining Blaylock & Partners' municipal finance group is Thomas Latzke, as associate. He will support the group by performing cash flow analyses, RFP preparation and credit analyses. Mr. Latzke spent the last two years with Trias Capital Management, most recently as an assistant portfolio manager.

Based in New York, Blaylock & Partners, L.P. is a member of the NASD and SIPC. The firm maintains offices in New York, Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco.