FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 7, 2007

Contact
Jean Eichenlaub, Managing Director, European Capital Services +33 (0)1 40 68 06 66
Stéphane Legrand, Director, European Capital Services +33 (0)1 40 68 06 66
Brian Maney, Director, Corporate Communications +1 (301) 951-6122

EUROPEAN CAPITAL INVESTS €12.5 MILLION IN BISCUITS POULT

Paris — February 7, 2007 — European Capital S.A. SICAR announced today it has invested €12.5 million ($16.2 million) in the mezzanine and second lien facilities of Biscuits Poult, the number one French private label manufacturer of sweet biscuits.  Senior and mezzanine facilities were arranged by BNP Paribas in support of LBO France’s acquisition of Biscuits Poult.

“We are pleased to be partnering again with both LBO France and BNP Paribas in support of LBO France’s buyout of Biscuits Poult,” said Ira Wagner, President of European Capital Financial Services Limited ("European Capital Services"), the sub-investment manager of European Capital, and Chief Operating Officer of American Capital.  “Our quick response time to proposed transactions and our network of relationships with the preeminent European private equity firms and financial institutions are producing a stream of attractive investment opportunities like this one.”

European Capital invested approximately €1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) in 2006 and €432 million ($560 million) in the fourth quarter of 2006 and has invested €71 million ($92 million) in 2007 year to date.  For more information about European Capital’s portfolio, click here.

“Biscuits Poult is the leader in the French private label biscuit market, which is the fastest growing portion of the biscuit market,” said Jean Eichenlaub, European Capital Managing Director.  “Driven by retailers’ focus on their own products and consumers’ preference for lower prices but high quality, the market is decisively trending towards private label.  Biscuits Poult’s strong, long-standing relationships with retailers and hard discounters and its industry leading service ratings position it to be a primary supplier to meet the growing private label demand.”

”While focusing on niches in which it holds leading market shares, Biscuits Poult manufactures the widest assortment of biscuits among its competitors,” said Stéphane Legrand, European Capital Director.  “Biscuits Poult is known for quality and innovation rivaling or surpassing brand name manufacturers and it has made sizeable investments in manufacturing facilities to constantly improve its productivity.  Its strongly committed management team has successfully repositioned the Company to focus on the most profitable segments and seamlessly integrated a major acquisition that doubled revenues.”

Founded in 1883, Biscuits Poult doubled its size with the acquisition of Panier Tanguy in 2005.  The Company focuses on 15 French biscuit categories.  Biscuits Poult customers include all of the large French food retail and hard discount chains. Headquartered in Toulouse, France, the Company has four production sites and more than 700 employees.

“We are delighted to again be working with European Capital,” said Thomas Boulman, LBO France Director.  “European Capital’s ability to respond rapidly to investment proposals and its breadth of experience in a variety of industries make it one of the most attractive sources of financing for middle market companies.”

“European Capital’s flexibility and quick understanding of key investment criteria make it an investment partner we know we can rely on for our syndications,” said Myriam Frileux-Gaussier, in charge of Distribution of Leverage Loan Assets at BNP Paribas.

ABOUT EUROPEAN CAPITAL

European Capital is a buyout and mezzanine fund with capital resources of €1.7 billion ($2.2 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 €400 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 Jean Eichenlaub at + 33 (0)1 40 68 06 66 in Paris, or Simon Henderson or Nathalie Faure Beaulieu at + 44 (0)20 7539 7000 in London, or visit the website at www.EuropeanCapital.com.

ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL

American Capital Strategies Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS), an affiliate of European Capital, is the largest U.S. publicly traded alternative asset manager with $12 billion in capital resources under management.  American Capital, both directly and through its global asset management business, is an investor in management and employee buyouts, private equity buyouts, and early stage and mature private and public companies. American Capital provides senior debt, mezzanine debt and equity to fund growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations and securitizations.  American Capital invests from $5 million to $500 million in North America and €5 million to €400 million in Europe.

ABOUT LBO FRANCE

Established in 1985, Paris headquartered LBO France is an independent private equity firm.  Since its inception, the private equity firm has invested in more than 60 companies for a total cumulated enterprise value of €10 billion.  LBO France has over €1.5 billion under management. LBO France has completed some of the largest buyouts in France including Actaris, a leading manufacturer and designer of water, power and gas metering systems, Nexity, a property development firm, Terreal, a manufacturer of clay tiles and bricks and Cegelec, a leading international engineering group providing electrical contracting services for industrial, infrastructure and non-residential projects.  European Capital's London office supported LBO France's November 2005 acquisition of Terreal and the Paris office supported LBO France’s April 2006 acquisition of Cegelec.

This press release contains forward-looking statements.   The statements regarding expected results of European Capital and/or American Capital 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 European Capital and/or American Capital has made investments.

This announcement is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation to buy securities.
This announcement appears as a matter of record only.