Devonshire Capital
December 18th 2002

PRESS RELEASE

DEVONSHIRE CAPITAL OPENS NEW OFFICE IN KOREA

Devonshire Capital has joined forces with experienced Korean M&A professionals Dr. Joo-Hyung Han and Mr. Eun Jin Lee, to establish Devonshire Korea, Inc. in Seoul, South Korea. Devonshire Korea plans to build a strong Corporate Finance Team focusing on domestic and cross-border M&A business. The new office officially opened in December 2002 and has an initial staff of eight people.

The opening of the office also coincided with the successful completion of Devonshire's first business transaction in Korea, structuring and placing a US$30 million private equity deal for a high profile Korean company operating in the IT sector to overseas investors.

"This was an ideal way to announce our arrival in the Korean market and to display our cross-border capabilities" according to Andrew Affleck who led the deal "we worked for 12 weeks on this transaction, which is quick for private equity deals, so we experienced a rapid learning curve for a number of elements in the deal process, which culminated in success and obviously has given us the initial confidence from which to build".

During 2003 Devonshire Korea, will also be focusing on launching an Investment Fund focused specifically on Korea to take advantage of M&A opportunities. Korea has made great progress since the Asian financial crisis which has led to a number of high profile domestic and cross border transactions, making it one of the most attractive markets to invest in over the last 3 years.

For further information on the Devonshire Korea, Inc. please contact:-
Dr Joo-Hyung Han - CEO
Devonshire Korea, Inc.
16th Floor Hungkuk Life Insurance Building, 226, Shinmunro 1-Ga,
Chongro-Ku, Seoul, 110-061, Korea.
Tel: (82) 2 21222878 Fax: (82) 2 21222879
Email: han@devonshirecapital.com