THE DEAL COMPLETES BPA INTERNATIONAL INITIAL AUDIT

December 8, 2003--SHELTON, CT--The Deal has completed its first BPA International audit.

Glenn J. Hansen, BPA International President, praised The Deal for voluntarily opening its records to independent verification and documentation of its data.

Hansen pointed out that the audit facilitates the buying and selling of advertising space. A BPA International report provides advertisers and agencies with assurance that what they choose to invest in does in fact reach target audiences for specific ads. BPA International auditing also helps media companies by documenting the quality of their audiences.

Copies of the initial BPA International audit report for The Deal will be available from BPA International or the publisher.

The Deal will be issuing semi-annual circulation statements in the standard BPA International format.

BPA International conducts its circulation audits on an annual basis following accepted auditing procedures. In addition to verifying exact counts of recipients, BPA International also documents that they are qualified in the markets served by the publications.

A not-for-profit organization since 1931, BPA International is in the Business of Performing Audits and has the largest membership of any media auditing organization in the world. Media owners, advertisers, and advertising agencies govern the tripartite organization. Our international membership consists of more than 2,600 media properties (print, electronic, face-to-face, wireless, databases) and 2,800 media buyers in over 20 countries. Visit www.bpai.com for the latest audit reports, membership information and news.

About The Deal LLC
The Deal LLC is a diversified media company that is the authoritative voice of the deal economy. We serve the global deal community - corporate and financial dealmakers, advisers and institutional investors - by providing business and financial news and information that offers fresh insights on the deal economy, a set of interrelated activities, focused on dealmaking of all kinds, whose purpose is to generate corporate growth in a continually changing global market. We offer a comprehensive line of print and electronic product and services for both readers and advertisers, including The Deal, The Daily Deal, TheDeal.com, Corporate Dealmaker, Tech Confidential, Corporate Control Alert, Auction Block, Bankruptcy Insider, Deal Focus and VCDeal.com. Investors in The Deal, 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.