FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
28 February 2008

Contact
Giles Cheek, European Capital Financial Services Limited +44 (0)20 7539 7000
Brian Maney, Corporate Communications +1 (301) 951 6122

EUROPEAN CAPITAL ANNOUNCES REFINANCING OF PORTFOLIO COMPANY AVERY WEIGH-TRONIX AND THE REPAYMENT OF £18 MILLION OF PREFERENCE SHARES

St. Peter Port, Guernsey – 28 February 2008 – European Capital Limited (“European Capital”) (LSE: ECAS) announced today that its portfolio company Avery Weigh-Tronix Holdings Limited (“Avery”) has completed the refinancing of £36 million (€48 million) of senior credit facilities with The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc and HSBC Bank Plc. The refinancing follows the disposal of Avery’s food retail weighing business and will result in the repayment of £18 million (€24 million) of European Capital’s preference shares.  Post completion of the transaction, European Capital will continue to hold £10 million (€13 million) of loan notes and preference shares in Avery as well as 61% of the common stock of the company. 

“This represents the first significant realisation from the ten European Capital One Stop Buyouts™ completed since inception in 2005 and as such is an important milestone in our development,” said Simon Henderson, Managing Director of European Capital Financial Service Limited.

“This is a major event in our strategy to focus Avery Weigh-Tronix as an industrial weighing solutions and services provider.  We look forward to continuing to support the company as it concentrates on serving its long-standing industrial customers and builds on its high quality product portfolio,” said Giles Cheek, Director of European Capital Financial Services Limited.

Avery is headquartered in Smethwick, UK with major operations and manufacturing facilities in the UK, USA, Canada, Malaysia, India and China. Avery’s industrial products include weighbridges, platform or deck scales, load cells,  indicators and supporting software that serve customers in a variety of end markets, including logistics and transportation, food processing, waste management, agriculture and general manufacturing. In addition, the company provides aftermarket support services for its weighing products through one of the industry’s largest accredited service networks. The company employs over 2,000 people worldwide. 

For more information about European Capital’s original investment in Avery, click here.

ABOUT EUROPEAN CAPITAL

European Capital is a publicly traded investment company for pan-European equity, mezzanine and senior debt investments with capital resources of approximately €2.8 billion ($4.1 billion).  It is managed by European Capital Financial Services (Guernsey) Limited (“ECFSG” or “the Investment Manager”), a wholly-owned affiliate of American Capital Strategies, Ltd (“American Capital”).

European Capital invests in and sponsors management and employee buyouts, invests in private equity buyouts and provides capital directly to private and public companies headquartered predominantly in Europe.  European Capital generally invests between €5 million and €500 million per transaction in equity, mezzanine debt and senior debt to fund growth, acquisitions and recapitalisations.

The investment objective of European Capital is to provide investors with dividend income and the potential for share value appreciation by investing in debt and equity investments in private and public companies headquartered primarily in Europe. European Capital seeks to achieve this through pursuing the following types of investments:

European Capital One Stop Buyouts™

Through our One Stop Buyouts™, European Capital provides equity, mezzanine debt and senior debt as the lead investor in the buyout of private and public companies.

Mezzanine Direct with Sponsors

European Capital provides debt and equity financing for buyouts sponsored by private equity firms where European Capital is either the sole or lead mezzanine debt investor.

Syndicated Mezzanine and Senior Debt

European Capital provides mezzanine and senior financing for buyouts sponsored by private equity firms where European Capital is neither the sole nor lead mezzanine or senior debt investor.

Direct Investments

European Capital provides debt and equity financing directly to private and public companies, which is used for growth, acquisitions or recapitalisations, and investing in structured finance vehicles.

Companies interested in learning more about European Capital's flexible financing should contact Simon Henderson or Nathalie Faure Beaulieu at + 44 (0)20 7539 7000 in London, Jean Eichenlaub at + 33 (0)1 40 68 06 66 in Paris, Robert von Finckenstein at +49 (0) 69 71 71 297-0 in Frankfurt, or Luis Felipe Castellanos at +(34) 91 423 27 60 in Madrid, or visit the website at www.EuropeanCapital.com.

ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL

American Capital Strategies Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS), with $19 billion in capital resources under management, is an affiliate of European Capital and a member of the S&P 500.  It is the largest U.S. publicly traded private equity fund and one of the largest publicly traded alternative asset managers.  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 and its affiliates invest from $5 million to $800 million per company in North America and €5 million to €500 million per company in Europe.

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.