THE DAILY DEAL LAUNCHES PRIVATE CAPITAL FRIDAY AND UNVEILS A SURVEY OF PRIVATE EQUITY-BACKED COMPANIES THAT HAVE GONE BUST

The newspaper's latest of five weekly deal-specific sections focuses on the news of private equity and venture capital deals and dealmakers

December 7, 2001--New York, N.Y.--Wall Street told itself it had learned the lessons of the 1980's, and private equity funds and lenders shunned excessive leverage in the 1990's. Despite the restraint in using leverage, buyout funds are watching their portfolio companies go bust at alarming rates, The Daily Deal (www.TheDeal.com) reports today.

Senior Writer editor David Carey examines whether or not investors in the last decade were really smarter in their investment strategies and cites The Daily Deal survey of 62 private equity-backed companies that have filed for bankruptcy, wiping out billions of dollars of investors' equity. The article points out that the private equity industry is paying for its late-1990s buying spree, during which it over paid and over leveraged.

"Older, but how much wiser?" anchors the inaugural issue of Private Capital Friday, a weekly in-depth look at the realms of venture capital and private equity. Private Capital Friday completes The Daily Deal's cycle of focused deal coverage, joining Merger Monday, Corporate Tuesday, Tech Wednesday and Bankruptcy Thursday, all of which launched since the summer.

"This investing section will be looking at the activity going on in non-public companies, startups, as well as leveraged buyouts," said Robert Teitelman, editor-in-chief of The Deal. "Private Capital Friday, along with the rest of our weekly sections, allows us the chance to cover one of our niche areas with a greater amount of depth on a regular basis."

Each edition of Private Capital Friday includes regular features. "Capital calls," edited by assistant managing editor John E. Morris, provides a behind-the-scenes look at private capital deals and dealmakers. "Digital Europe," which details venture capital activity in Europe, appears on a semi-regular basis. Along with the columns and articles, Private Capital Friday includes pages of statistics to complement the reporting.

About The Deal LLC
The Deal, LLC is the leading media company charting the deal economy for dealmakers worldwide. The company provides original news reporting, financial data and commentary on a full spectrum of global transactions and the personalities and politics of dealmakers behind the deals. Through The Daily Deal and TheDeal.com, as well as e-newsletters, newsletters and special reports, The Deal, LLC addresses the information needs of the deal community composed of corporate executives, entrepreneurs, institutional investors, financial intermediaries and advisers. Investors in The Deal, LLC, a privately held company, include majority owner U.S. Equity Partners, a private investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP, and Rustic Canyon Ventures, one of the largest venture capital funds in Southern California.