FCStone Group, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Downes-O'Neill, LLC


DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 17, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- FCStone Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:FCSX), a commodity risk management firm, announced today the acquisition of Downes-O'Neill, LLC, a registered brokerage group and risk management consulting firm specializing in servicing the dairy industry.

The all-cash transaction is expected to close in early 2008 and should be immediately accretive to earnings. Downes-O'Neill is a highly complementary business to FCStone's existing platform, which should facilitate a smooth integration going forward.

"This acquisition represents a strategic milestone for our business as we pursue opportunities that are extremely complementary to the FCStone business model," said Pete Anderson, FCStone's Chief Executive Officer. "Furthermore, we believe that this acquisition demonstrates our commitment to strengthening our presence and service offering in the dairy and food service industry."

Joining the FCStone management team is Tom Gaughan, Managing Partner of Downes-O'Neill, who will provide ongoing leadership in his new role as Vice President - Food Service Division.

"We are very excited to be joining the FCStone family," commented Mr. Gaughan. "We believe that both our people and our service offering represents an excellent fit, and expect to contribute to the ongoing success of FCStone. We intend to continue to provide high-quality services to our customers in the dairy industry, while leveraging the capabilities and resources of FCStone."

About FCStone Group, Inc.

FCStone Group, Inc., along with its affiliates, is an integrated commodity risk management company providing risk management consulting and transaction execution services to commercial commodity intermediaries, end-users and producers. The firm assists primarily middle market customers in optimizing their profit margins and mitigating exposure to commodity price risk. In addition to risk management consulting services, FCStone, LLC, operates one of the leading independent clearing and execution platforms for exchange-traded futures and options contracts. FCStone Group, Inc., serves more than 7,500 customers and in the 12 months ended August 31, 2007, executed 61.7 million derivative contracts in the exchange-traded and over-the-counter markets. The FCStone Group companies work in all the major commodity areas including agriculture, energy, renewable fuels, foods, forestry, and currency exchange. Headquartered in the Midwest, it has offices located throughout the world and is a clearing member of all major North American Futures exchanges. FCStone Group, Inc., trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "FCSX."

About Downes-O'Neill, LLC

Downes-O'Neill is comprised of registered brokers with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and members of the National Futures Association (NFA). The team of brokers, with over 50 years of combined industry experience, trades more dairy futures and options than any other brokerage group. From day one, the team has been committed to educating and servicing the dairy industry on the benefits of price risk management using futures, options, and forward contracting. Downes-O'Neill, LLC provides the dairy industry with accurate, timely and relevant information on the dairy markets online. The company helps customers manage price risk through comprehensive hedging strategies and information.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may include forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, our plans, strategies and prospects, both business and financial. All statements other than statements of current or historical fact contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "should," "plan," "will," "may," "could," "intend," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions, as they relate to FCStone Group, Inc., are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions, including the risks, uncertainties and assumptions described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking statements in this press release may not occur and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. When you consider these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind these risk factors and other cautionary statements in this press release. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.



            

Contact Data