BNP Paribas Announces the Acquisition of Hill Street Capital LLC


NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - May 18, 2010) -  BNP Paribas announces the acquisition of Hill Street Capital LLC, an investment banking boutique formed in 2001 by John Brim and Lorenzo Weisman. At BNP Paribas, Lorenzo Weisman is appointed Head of Corporate Finance for the Americas and John Brim will be Head of Corporate Finance Energy and Commodities for North America. Globally, Lorenzo Weisman will report to Philippe Meunier, Deputy Head of Corporate Finance in Paris and to Everett Schenk, Head of Territory for North America. In the US, Corporate Finance will operate and be supervised as a division of BNP Paribas Securities Corp.

Alain Papiasse, head of Corporate and Investment Banking at BNP Paribas, said, "We have made solid inroads into mergers and acquisitions and other forms of corporate advisory services in North and South America in recent years. We have decided to take this additional step in a targeted expansion of that franchise. BNP Paribas is a global leader in structured finance, investment banking and other activities, with a particular emphasis in the Americas in energy and commodities, general industrial, consumer products, cross-border transactions and in a select number of other sectors."

Thierry Varène global head of Corporate Finance added, "With the acquisition of Hill Street Capital, we will be adding an experienced team of investment bankers to our existing teams to continue to grow our effort."

Lorenzo Weisman said, "We are delighted to bring our investment banking experience and to combine it with BNP Paribas' considerable strengths. They are a solid and dynamic global institution, with the potential to make a significant impact in corporate finance in the Americas."

John Brim and Lorenzo Weisman started their careers at Dillon, Read & Co. Inc and have had long and successful careers in investment banking in New York and London. Prior to forming Hill Street Capital, they led different activities at UBS after Dillon Read was acquired by SBC Warburg, shortly before merging with UBS. The other members of the Hill Street Capital team have worked previously in firms such as Morgan Stanley, Salomon Brothers, Dillon Read, UBS and Lehman Brothers. Hill Street Capital has specialized in mergers and acquisitions and other forms of corporate finance advisory services.

BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking
BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking employs 19,600 people in over 50 countries and services 13,000 corporate and institutional clients worldwide.
BNP Paribas CIB excels in:
Derivatives -- where it is one of the leading global players in rates, credit, forex, commodity and equity derivatives.
Capital markets -- where it is one of the top European houses in both ECM and DCM (bond, securitization, convertibles and equity issuance)
Structured finance -- where it is amongst the leaders in acquisition, export, project, energy and commodity finance globally.

www.cib.bnpparibas.com

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