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Pershing Wins Out-Sourcing Contract from Arden Start-Up

Pershing Securities Limited is to provide settlement services to Arden Partners Limited a new research-based institutional and corporate stockbroking firm launched recently in the UK to focus providing agency brokerage services in small and mid cap UK stocks.

Having recently received approval of its FAS application, Arden Partners will begin trading on 11 November 2002. The new company will have offices in Birmingham, London and Bristol.

Arden Partners has been set up by managing director John Paterson, the former managing director of Albert E Sharp Securities, and he has been joined by a team of executives formerly at Old Mutual Securities. Most of the team were with Albert E Sharp at the time it was taken over by Old Mutual in 1998.

Arden's team of research analysts will include Robert Griffiths, David Larkam, Tim Richmond and Ben Thefaut, and will cover nine sectors including automobiles, construction and building materials, engineering, electricals, support services, transport and smaller companies. The firm plans to add further sectors to its research capability in the coming months.

Arden's sales and dealing team will include Mark Braddock, John Cassie, John Goold, Jonathan Keeling, Dominic King and Jim Reed-Daunter. Richard Day, formerly of Cazenove & Co, will head the firm's corporate finance operation. Negotiations with other experienced stockbrokers are continuing and Arden hopes to announce further appointments.

Commenting on the launch of Arden Partners, John Paterson, Managing Director, said: "Our launch comes at a time of increasing concern in the London market at the dominance of the large, all-purpose financial services organisations. In creating Arden Partners we have consciously focused on the agency stockbroking model and structured ourselves to offer fund managers and institutions a broking service that is an independent as possible. We believe that institutions and corporate clients will respond to a personalised service that is reassuringly transparent. Arden Partners has possibly one of the most experienced and longest serving institutional stockbroking teams and, whilst small in relation to the large international houses, will have one of largest dedicated small cap teams in the UK when it opens for business. Furthermore, despite difficult market conditions, we believe we have created a business model for long-term success based on the firm's regional presence and on a flexible cost base. Arden is confident that through the integrity of research, sales and dealing services, it will become a major force in the UK market."

The twelve founding partners will each have an equal equity share in the business owning over 90 per cent of the company. The remaining equity is held by Grahame Whateley, Chairman of Castlemore Securities, who is also providing substantial seed capital to the new venture. In addition, HSBC is providing a debt facility to Arden.

John Goold and Tim Richmond are currently servicing their notice with Old Mutual Securities. Both will join Arden Partners on 18 November 2002.

Castlemore Securities is one of the largest private property development companies in the UK with net assets in excess of £150m and a development programme of over £1bn.