25 January 2006 - Close Brothers, Europe's leading independent corporate finance adviser, has once again been widely recognised for its excellence in financial advisory services over the past year.

In this year's Awards Season, Close Brothers received five highly sought after Awards, across three of its advisory practices: M&A, the Debt Advisory Group and the European Special Situations Group.

The M&A advisory practice was awarded European Boutique of the Year, by Financial News, in recognition of the significant role of its European network and the fact that Close Brothers is one of the few independent M&A advisers that has such an extensive network.  In the UK it was awarded Domestic Deal of the Year, by Acquisitions Monthly, for the advice it gave Gala on its £2.18 bn acquisition of Coral Eurobet.

The Debt Advisory Group was awarded Mid-market financing Deal of the Year, by the Treasurer magazine, for advice it gave Alliance Medical, Europe's leading provider of outsourced diagnostic scanning services, on securing £230 million worth of new banking facilities.

And the European Special Situations Group was awarded Global Restructuring Deal of the Year and European Restructuring Deal of the Year 2005, by IFR Magazine, for its work on the Parmalat restructuring.

Commenting on the Awards, Richard Grainger, CEO of Close Brothers, said:

"We appreciate the commendation that our advisory work generates, across all areas of our business.  It delights me in particular as I feel it reflects the incredible effort and work that goes into ensuring our clients get the best advice, wherever they are in the world."

For further information, please contact:

Justin Clark

Close Brothers Corporate Finance Limited

+44 (0)20 7655 3784