FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

July 14, 2006

Contact
Simon Henderson, Managing Director, European Capital Services +44 (0)20 7539 7000
Giles Cheek, Director, European Capital Services +44 (0)20 7539 7000
Alex Morey, Director, European Capital Services +44 (0)20 7539 7000
Brian Maney, Corporate Communications, +1 (301) 951-6122

European Capital Appoints Directors

London — July 14, 2006 — European Capital Financial Services Limited ("European Capital Services") announced today the addition of Alex Morey, Director, and Julian Masters, Investment Director, to its U.K. Buyout Team in its London office.   In addition, joining the team as Associates are Athesan Guna and Ivan Stoyanov.   They join Simon Henderson, Managing Director, Giles Cheek, Director, and Fergus Hall, Investment Director.   With these recent appointments, European Capital currently has 41 employees in its U.K. Buyout Team, Paris Buyout and Mezzanine Team, Pan European Mezzanine Team, Finance Team, Financial Analysis and Compliance Team (FACT) and Information Technology Department.

"We are fortunate to have such an accomplished group as new members of our European Capital team," said Ira Wagner, President of European Capital Services, the sub-investment manager of European Capital S.A. SICAR.   "They all join us from highly regarded private equity firms and as a group have broad experience in origination, execution, transformation and realization of private equity investments in a wide range of sectors.   Their combined skills and investment backgrounds will deepen European Capital’s extensive capabilities and further its development in the U.K. buyout marketplace."

"I am delighted with the quality of the people that we have recruited and believe that they will prove to be extremely valuable members of the European Capital buyout team," said Simon Henderson, European Capital Services Managing Director.   "With the addition of our new colleagues, European Capital can continue to quickly and thoroughly pursue high quality buyout investment opportunities in Europe, with a specific focus on the middle buyout market comprised of companies with enterprise values ranging from €20 million to €250 million."

"I believe that the flexibility afforded by our one stop financing capability and our cost of capital advantages, together with the significant capital resources at our disposal, will be a powerful combination in the European buyout market, "said Giles Cheek, European Capital Services Director.   "European Capital has assembled a highly experienced team of professionals and together with my colleagues I look forward to building the business into a leading player in the private equity industry."

"Our unique and flexible funding structure and extensive in-house due diligence resources clearly differentiate European Capital from its competitors, providing vendors with certainty and speed of execution," said Alex Morey, European Capital Services Director.   "European Capital has brought together a very high quality team and I look forward to working with my new colleagues to build European Capital into a major force in the U.K. buyout market."

Mr. Morey joins European Capital Services from Credit Suisse Private Equity, where he was a Director.   Credit Suisse Private Equity, the global private equity arm of Credit Suisse, is one of the largest managers of alternative assets in the world with more than $29 billion in committed capital.   Mr. Morey has served on the boards of numerous portfolio companies in the U.K., Europe and the U.S. ranging in size from start-ups to revenues of over $3 billion.   Prior to his time at Credit Suisse Private Equity, he was with Arthur Andersen Corporate Finance, where he advised on U.K. buyouts.   Previously, Mr. Morey worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the corporate finance team, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1991.

Mr. Masters also joins European Capital Services from Credit Suisse Private Equity, where he was a Director.   Mr. Masters represented Credit Suisse Private Equity on the boards of various portfolio companies including Grohe AG, Safilo SpA and Vistorm Ltd.   Prior to Credit Suisse Private Equity, Mr. Masters was with PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Transaction Services Group, including a nine month secondment to Bridgepoint Capital in London.   Julian is a Chartered Accountant having qualified with PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1998.

In addition, Athesan Guna joins European Capital Services from Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and Ivan Stoyanov joins from McKinsey & Company.

ABOUT EUROPEAN CAPITAL

European Capital is a buyout and mezzanine fund with capital resources of €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion).   European Capital invests in and sponsors management and employee buyouts, invests in private equity buyouts and provides capital directly to private and mid-sized public companies.   European Capital invests from €5 million to €125 million per transaction in equity, mezzanine debt and senior debt to fund growth, acquisitions and recapitalizations.

Companies interested in learning more about European Capital's flexible financing should contact Simon Henderson or Nathalie Faure Beaulieu at + 44 (0)20 7539 7000 in London, or Jean Eichenlaub at + 33 (0)1 40 68 06 66 in Paris, or visit the website at www.EuropeanCapital.com.

ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL

American Capital Strategies Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS), an affiliate of European Capital, is a publicly traded buyout and mezzanine fund with capital resources of approximately $8.4 billion.   American Capital invests in and sponsors management and employee buyouts, invests in private equity buyouts, provides capital directly to early stage and mature private and small public companies and through its asset management business is a manager of debt and equity investments in private companies.   American Capital provides senior debt, mezzanine debt and equity to fund growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations and securitizations.   American Capital invests up to $300 million per company.

This press release contains forward-looking statements.   The statements regarding expected results of American Capital Strategies are subject to various factors and uncertainties, including the uncertainties associated with the timing of transaction closings, changes in interest rates, availability of transactions, changes in regional, national or international economic conditions, or changes in the conditions of the industries in which American Capital has made investments.