PJC Piper Jaffray Companies

MINNEAPOLIS and NEW YORK, July 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Piper Jaffray & Co., a leading middle-market investment bank, and CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT), a leading global provider of commercial and consumer financial solutions, today announced a strategic relationship to offer middle-market companies a comprehensive set of financing solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Piper Jaffray will expand its existing investment banking capabilities to include the complete range of debt solutions, including senior-secured and unsecured debt, second lien facilities, subordinated financings, and mezzanine loans. CIT, under this agreement, will be able to provide its clients a broader range of capital market solutions such as high yield, equity and equity-linked offerings. Piper Jaffray and CIT each bring unique expertise to the relationship. Piper Jaffray provides extensive capital markets expertise and CIT provides comprehensive lending and syndication expertise. Both companies share a focus on middle-market clients and deep knowledge of growth sectors, including alternative energy, business services, consumer, healthcare, financial institutions, industrial growth and technology. "This agreement enables us to provide a powerful set of integrated solutions to our middle-market corporate and financial sponsor clients across our industry sectors," said Thomas P. Schnettler, head of Corporate and Institutional Services at Piper Jaffray. "We also look forward to working with CIT to bring equity and high yield financing to their substantial base of clients." Rick Wolfert, CIT's vice chairman for Commercial Finance, said, "Our strategic relationship with Piper Jaffray will enhance the range of capital market solutions we currently offer our clients. CIT's financing capabilities offer an excellent complement to Piper Jaffray's capital markets expertise and the combination of the two will provide middle-market companies with a greater variety of financing solutions. We are already realizing the benefits of this relationship and anticipate increased deal volume for both companies as it continues to develop." The recently announced acquisition of Laserscope by American Medical Systems highlights the strength of the relationship between Piper Jaffray and CIT. Piper Jaffray acted as the buy-side advisor and collaborated with CIT on raising a financing package of $805 million for the transaction that included senior debt, subordinated bridge and convertible debt components. About CIT CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT), a leading commercial and consumer finance company, provides clients with financing and leasing products and advisory services. Founded in 1908, CIT has $68 billion in managed assets and possesses the financial resources, industry expertise and product knowledge to serve the needs of clients across approximately 30 industries worldwide. CIT, a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 Index, holds leading positions in vendor financing, factoring, equipment and transportation financing, Small Business Administration loans, and asset-based lending. With its global headquarters in New York City, CIT has more than 7,000 employees in locations throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim. http://www.cit.com/ About Piper Jaffray Piper Jaffray & Co. is the chief operating subsidiary of Piper Jaffray Companies (NYSE:PJC), a focused securities firm dedicated to delivering superior financial advice, investment products and transaction execution within selected sectors of the financial services marketplace. The company currently operates through two primary revenue-generating segments: Capital Markets and Private Client Services. The sale of the company's Private Client Services branch network, announced April 11, 2006, currently is pending. The company's Capital Markets business generates revenue through two groups, Corporate and Institutional Services and Public Finance Services. Piper Jaffray & Co. has served corporations, government and nonprofit entities, institutional investors and the financial advisory needs of private individuals since 1895. With headquarters in Minneapolis, Piper Jaffray has approximately 2,800 employees in 107 offices in 23 states across the country and in London. For more information about Piper Jaffray, visit us online at http://www.piperjaffray.com/ . Since 1895. Member SIPC and NYSE. DATASOURCE: Piper Jaffray & Co. CONTACT: Investor Relations, Jennifer A. Olson-Goude, +1-612-303-6277, or , or Media Relations, Rob Litt, +1-612-303-8266, or , both of Piper Jaffray & Co.; or Media Relations, C. Curtis Ritter, Director of External Communications & Media Relations, +1-212-771-9603, or , or Investor Relations, Valerie L. Gerard, Executive Vice President, +1-973-422-3284, both of CIT Group Inc. Web site: http://www.piperjaffray.com/ http://www.cit.com/

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