London — August 1, 2006 — European Capital S.A. SICAR announced today it has invested €123 million ($157 million) in the One Stop Buyout™ of Avery Weigh-Tronix Holdings Limited, a leading designer and manufacturer of weighing equipment and solutions to industrial and food retail customers worldwide.  European Capital’s investment takes the form of senior term debt, senior subordinated debt and loan, preference and common equity.  European Capital is also providing a revolving credit facility.  Avery Weigh-Tronix management is investing in equity.  Post close, European Capital owns approximately 80% of Avery Weigh-Tronix, on a fully diluted basis, with Avery Weigh-Tronix management owning the remaining balance.

“We are pleased to announce the One Stop Buyout™ of Avery Weigh-Tronix, one of the first two buyouts recently completed by European Capital’s London office,” said Ira Wagner, President of European Capital Financial Services Limited ("European Capital Services"), the sub-investment manager of European Capital.  “We are delighted with the progress made by both the Paris and London offices of European Capital.  The Avery transaction again demonstrates our ability to invest throughout the entire capital structure of a buyout transaction.”

European Capital has invested €831 million ($1 billion) in 27 companies since its formation in August of 2005 and €655 million ($836 million) in 19 companies in 2006.   For more information about European Capital’s portfolio, click here.

“Avery Weigh-Tronix is one of only a few global competitors in the marketplace, holding a leading share in the core U.K. and U.S. weighing markets and in most of the niches in which it participates.  This makes Avery an especially appealing investment opportunity for European Capital,” said Simon Henderson, European Capital Managing Director. 

“Avery Weigh-Tronix has developed a strong reputation for high quality products and premier customer service together with longstanding customer relationships across a variety of industries and geographies” said Giles Cheek, European Capital Director.  “We are looking forward to working with management to build on those relationships and supporting the Company through the next stage of its development.”

Headquartered in Birmingham, U.K., Avery Weigh-Tronix and its predecessors have operated since 1731 under several of the weight products and systems industry’s most respected brand names, including Avery Weigh-Tronix, Salter Brecknell, Dillon, Avery Berkel and Berkel.  Today, Avery Weigh-Tronix designs and manufactures weighing products and systems and provides aftermarket services to industrial and food retail customers worldwide.  Avery Weigh-Tronix’s industrial products include weighbridges, platform or deck scales, load cells, weigh bars, indicators and supporting software that serve customers in a variety of end markets, including logistics and transportation, food processing, waste management, agriculture and general manufacturing.  Avery Weigh-Tronix’s food retail products consist of assorted types of PC-based, analog, checkout and printing scales, slicers and supporting software that are used by major supermarket chains and grocery, convenience and specialty food stores.

In addition, the Company provides aftermarket support services for its weighing products through one of the industry’s largest accredited service networks of over 1,000 global service technicians and over 400 distributor locations to an installed base of nearly 750,000 units.  Avery Weigh-Tronix’s services include system installation, calibrations, repairs, component replacements and preventative maintenance.  The Company employs nearly 2,700 personnel and operates five manufacturing and assembly facilities in the U.K., Canada, India, and the U.S. 

“European Capital is precisely the investment partner we need to move forward with our growth plans.  This new partnership will add great value to Avery Weigh-Tronix in the near future and will better position us to excel in our target markets,” said Avery Weigh-Tronix Chief Executive Officer Gerald Bowe.  “We are looking forward to continuing to serve our customers with world-class products that can be tailored and combined with a systems package to suit their specific requirements.”

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 generally 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 $8.9 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 $350 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.