Archipelago Holdings, L.L.C. Announces The Filing Of A Registration Statement For An Initial Public Offering

Archipelago Holdings, L.L.C. today announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of common stock of Archipelago Holdings, Inc., as corporate successor to Archipelago Holdings, L.L.C. The shares of common stock to be sold in the offering are expected to be offered by Archipelago and by existing stockholders of Archipelago. Archipelago owns and operates The Archipelago ExchangeSM (ArcaEx®), the nation's first totally-open, all electronic stock exchange.

The lead underwriters of the offering are Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.

When available, a preliminary prospectus relating to the proposed offering may be obtained from Goldman, Sachs & Co., 85 Broad Street, New York, New York, 10004, Attn: Prospectus Department, or JP Morgan at Chase Distribution & Support Services, One Chase Manhattan Plaza, Floor 5B, New York, NY 10081, 212-552-5164.

Certain statements in this press release may contain forward- looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the Company's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. There can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause the Company's results to differ materially from current expectations include: general economic and business conditions, industry trends, competitive conditions, regulatory developments and the additional factors and risks contained in the Company's registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 2, 2004.