Cassel Salpeter & Co. Will Focus On M&A And Advisory Services For Middle-Market Companies

MIAMI — June 8, 2010 — A team of seasoned investment bankers who worked for Ladenburg Thalmann & Company launched their own investment banking firm, Cassel Salpeter & Co. LLC, announced the chairman of the start-up venture, James S. Cassel. His colleague from Ladenburg and a name partner at the new firm, Scott E. Salpeter, will serve as president.

In keeping with the professional team’s depth of experience, the new firm will provide a broad range of investment banking services with special emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, fairness opinions, valuations, corporate restructuring and financial advisory. Likewise, the Cassel Salpeter team will focus on serving those types of clients it has previously worked with so extensively: middle-market, public and privately-held companies.

“Scott and I have proven to be a dynamic team, both at Capitalink and more recently as colleagues at Ladenburg Thalmann,” said James Cassel. “We had a great run at Ladenburg, but leading a boutique investment banking firm is much closer to our roots and better allows us to provide independent, unbiased advisory services that leverage our knowledge, experience, and extensive contacts on behalf of our clients.”

“Between Jim and me, we have a huge network of professional advisors – lawyers, accountants, private equity firms, and fellow investment bankers – who have seen us in action and who respect the good work we do. As a result, the interest in our new firm, even at this nascent phase, has been reassuring and predictive of a very exciting future,” said Scott Salpeter.

In addition to Messrs. Cassel and Salpeter, Marcus Wai formerly of Ladenburg Thalmann & Capitalink has joined the firm as a vice-president and Chris Mansueto, formerly of Ladenburg Thalmann and Kaufman & Rossin, has joined the firm as an associate.

The new company will be located at One Brickell Square in downtown Miami’s Brickell Avenue corridor. The company’s website address is www.casselsalpeter.com. For more information, contact James Cassel (jcassel@cs-ib.com or 305-438-7701) or Scott Salpeter (ssalpeter@cs-ib.com or 305-438-7702) .