Deutsch Connectors Acquired by French Private Equity Group

Houlihan Lokey Exclusive Financial Advisor to Deutsch in $1.04 Billion Cross-Border Deal

NEW YORK, June 30 -- Deutsch Connectors, a world leader in high-performance connectors in the aerospace, defense, heavy vehicle and oil production sectors, announced it has been acquired by WENDEL Investissement S.A. for $1.04 billion.

Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, an international investment bank, served as exclusive financial advisor to Deutsch Connectors in the transaction.

Founded in the United States in 1938, Deutsch now operates in 25 countries with significant business volume in the U.S., France and the U.K. It reported worldwide revenues of $500 million in 2005, and has a global workforce of 3,500 at a dozen industrial facilities. The Company has delivered annual organic growth of 15% in recent years.

Robert Hotz, Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of Investment Banking for Houlihan Lokey, said, "We were pleased to pair our client with a buyer that would deliver a premium valuation as well as maintain the strong culture Deutsch has cultivated with its employees over the last 70 years. Houlihan Lokey's unique blend of industry expertise, cross-border capabilities and private equity relationships were critical factors in completing this complex transaction."

WENDEL Investissement has named Jean-Marie Painvin, the former head of the Deutsch Group's French entity, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Deutsch. Jeff Albers will be the Company's Chief Operating Officer and Christian Farman will be Chief Financial Officer. They will be assisted by two Executive Vice Presidents with expanded responsibilities: Richard Neimi and Gilles Jachmich. Deutsch will have its headquarters in New York.

The transaction was approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and by antitrust authorities in the U.S., France and Germany.

About WENDEL Investissement

WENDEL Investissement is an investment firm listed on Euronext Paris (premier marche). It makes investments of more than 100 million euros in industrial and service companies and implements long-term growth and development strategies in partnership with management teams. Its main investments include Legrand (a 5 billion euros LBO in 2002 alongside KKR), Bureau Veritas (2 billion euros enterprise value in 2004), Editis (0.7 billion euros in 2004) and Materis (2.1 billion euros enterprise value in 2006). WENDEL Group was founded in 1704 and is still controlled by the founding shareholders (the Wendel Families), who today collectively own 35% of WENDEL Investissement.

About Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin

Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, an international investment bank, provides a wide range of services, including mergers and acquisitions, financing, financial opinions and advisory services, and financial restructuring. Houlihan Lokey has ranked among the top 10 M&A advisors in the U.S. for the past six years, has been the No. 1 provider of M&A fairness opinions for six consecutive years, and has one of the largest worldwide financial restructuring practices of any investment bank. Established in 1970, the firm has over 700 employees in 11 offices in the United States and Europe. We annually serve more than 1,000 clients ranging from closely held companies to Global 500 corporations. For more information, visit Houlihan Lokey's Web site at www.hlhz.com.