German Equity Forum From 21 To 23 November In Frankfurt/Main - Most Successful Equity Event: Entrepreneurs Meet Investors - Over 3,000 Participants Expected

Deutsche Börse and KfW Mittelstandsbank will be holding the German Equity Forum Fall 2005 in Frankfurt/Main from 21 to 23 November. The German Equity Forum is Europe's most successful event focusing on equity financing and financing strategies. The forum will place particular focus on examining diverse company financing opportunities. Over 50 innovative companies seeking equity capital will present their business models and growth prospects to private equity providers, venture capital companies, investment banks and financial services providers. And more than 150 companies listed on the Prime Standard will hold investor and analyst conferences on their results for Q3 2005. Over 3,000 participants are expected over the three days.

Deutsche Börse and KfW Mittelstandsbank have been hosting the German Equity Forum twice a year since 1996, thus providing active support for corporate equity financing. The fall event is oriented towards companies in the later stages of financing, as well as listed companies, whereas the spring event focuses on the early stage field. In addition to company presentations and analyst conferences, the forum also provides the opportunity to attend workshops and lectures on the latest issues relating to equity financing, as well as going and being public, within the context of a parallel conference program.

Ernst & Young are co-initiators of the Fall 2005 German Equity Forum. Main sponsors, 3i Deutschland, Apax Partners, Close Brothers Seydler, DZ BANK, Equinet, HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt, HVB, Independent Research, LBBW, Sal. Oppenheim, Shearman & Sterling and WestLB provide further support for the event. Cazenove, Commerzbank, Computershare, FCF Fox Corporate Finance, IKB Private Equity, Proventis, Viscardi and White & Case are acting as sponsors. The forum's media partners are: Bloomberg TV, Börse Online, Börsen-Zeitung, CNBC, DowJones VentureOne, dpa-AFX, Euro am Sonntag, Euromoney, Finance Magazin, FinancialNews, Finanzpark Research, GoingPublic Magazin, Markt und Mittelstand, n-tv, rheinmain TV, VDI nachrichten and VentureCapital Magazin.

Further information and the electronic application form are available at www.eigenkapitalforum.com.