PJC Piper Jaffray Companies

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Piper Jaffray Companies (NYSE:PJC) has completed the $180 million share repurchase program authorized by its board of directors on the commencement of the closing of the company's sale of its Private Client Services branch network on Aug. 11, 2006. To conclude the authorization, Piper Jaffray Companies recently repurchased $70 million of the company's common stock. "We are very pleased to have executed another step in our strategy to recapitalize our company and redeploy capital from the Private Client Services sale proceeds," said Andrew Duff, chairman and CEO of Piper Jaffray. "With the share repurchase program concluded and pending the closing of our two announced acquisitions, we have redeployed nearly all the sale proceeds. We remain focused on efficiently deploying additional capital -- from the remaining proceeds and adding leverage to our balance sheet -- to increase principal activities and pursue corporate development opportunities." About Piper Jaffray Piper Jaffray Companies is a leading, international middle-market investment bank and institutional securities firm, serving the needs of middle market corporations, private equity groups, public entities, nonprofit clients and institutional investors. Founded in 1895, Piper Jaffray provides a comprehensive set of products and services, including equity and debt capital markets products; public finance services; mergers and acquisitions advisory services; high-yield and structured products; institutional equity and fixed- income sales and trading; and equity and high-yield research. With headquarters in Minneapolis, Piper Jaffray has 25 offices across the United States and international locations in London and Shanghai. Piper Jaffray & Co. is the firm's principal operating subsidiary. (NYSE:PJC) (http://www.piperjaffray.com/) Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. Statements that are not historical or current facts, including statements about beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements cover, among other things, the future prospects of Piper Jaffray Companies. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including the following: (1) the acquisition of Fiduciary Asset Management, LLC (FAMCO) or of Goldbond Capital Holdings Limited (Goldbond) may not be completed, or completed within the expected timeframe, (2) costs or difficulties relating to the integration of the FAMCO or Goldbond and Piper Jaffray businesses may be greater than expected and may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition, (3) the expected benefits of the FAMCO or Goldbond acquisitions may take longer than anticipated to achieve and may not be achieved in their entirety or at all, (4) the proposed transaction with Goldbond would expand our international operations, which are subject to unique risks such as the risk of non-compliance with foreign laws and regulations and economic and political conditions in the countries where we operate; (5) developments in market and economic conditions have in the past adversely affected, and may in the future adversely affect, our business and profitability, (6) developments in specific sectors of the economy have in the past adversely affected, and may in the future adversely affect, our business and profitability, (7) we may not be able to compete successfully with other companies in the financial services industry who are often larger and better capitalized than we are, (8) we have experienced significant pricing pressure in areas of our business, which may impair our revenues and profitability, (9) the volume of anticipated investment banking transactions may differ from actual results, (10) our ability to attract, develop and retain highly skilled and productive employees is critical to the success of our business, (11) our underwriting and market-making activities may place our capital at risk, (12) an inability to readily divest or transfer trading positions may result in financial losses to our business, (13) use of derivative instruments as part of our risk management techniques may place our capital at risk, while our risk management techniques themselves may not fully mitigate our market risk exposure, (14) an inability to access capital readily or on terms favorable to us could impair our ability to fund operations and could jeopardize our financial condition, (15) it is inherently difficult to predict accurately the timing and outcome of legal proceedings and the amounts of legal reserves are difficult to determine and subject to future revision; accordingly future results of operations could be adversely affected if reserves are required to be increased or legal proceedings are resolved in excess of established reserves, (16) increases in capital commitments in our proprietary trading, investing and similar activities increase the potential for significant losses, (17) we may make strategic acquisitions of businesses, engage in joint ventures or divest or exit existing businesses, which could cause us to incur unforeseen expense and have disruptive effects on our business but may not yield the benefits we expect, (18) our technology systems, including outsourced systems, are critical components of our operations, and failure of those systems or other aspects of our operations infrastructure may disrupt our business, cause financial loss and constrain our growth, (19) our business is subject to extensive regulation that limits our business activities, and a significant regulatory action against our company may have a material adverse financial effect or cause significant reputational harm to our company, (20) regulatory capital requirements may limit our ability to expand or maintain present levels of our business or impair our ability to meet our financial obligations, (21) the amount and timing of restructuring expenses associated with acquisition and divestiture activity are difficult to predict accurately, and our estimates may differ from actual results, (22) our exposure to legal liability is significant, and could lead to substantial damages, (23) we may suffer losses if our reputation is harmed, (24) our stock price may fluctuate as a result of several factors, including but not limited to changes in our revenues and operating results, (25) provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and of Delaware law may prevent or delay an acquisition of our company, which could decrease the market value of our common stock, and (26) other factors identified under "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, and updated in our subsequent reports filed with the SEC. These reports are available at our Web site at http://www.piperjaffray.com/ and at the SEC Web site at http://www.sec.gov/. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update them in light of new information or future events. DATASOURCE: Piper Jaffray CONTACT: Jennifer A. Olson-Goude, Investor Relations, +1-612-303-6277, or Rob Litt, Media Relations, +1-612-303-8266, both of Piper Jaffray Web site: http://www.piperjaffray.com/

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