Merrill Lynch Announces Minority Investment in GSO Capital Partners LP

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) today announced that it has agreed to purchase a minority stake in GSO Capital Partners LP (“GSO”), a New York-based registered investment management firm. As part of the transaction, Merrill Lynch will invest capital in a number of GSO’s strategies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Merrill Lynch has world-class franchises in products and geographies that are very relevant to our investment strategies”

“GSO has a uniquely talented team of investment professionals who have extensive expertise in the leveraged finance marketplace,” said Greg Fleming, co-president of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. “We look forward to working together to grow their firm by utilizing the global resources of Merrill Lynch.”

“Merrill Lynch has world-class franchises in products and geographies that are very relevant to our investment strategies,” said Bennett Goodman, senior managing partner of GSO. “We look forward to collaborating with them on future projects.”

“This investment in GSO is a continuation of our strategy to invest in best-in-class alternative investment managers worldwide,” said Rohit D’Souza, head of Global Alternative Investments and global head of Equities at Merrill Lynch.

About Merrill Lynch

Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies with offices in 37 countries and territories and total client assets of approximately $1.6 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Merrill Lynch owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management companies, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.

About GSO

GSO is a registered alternative investment manager with approximately $8 billion in assets under management and offices in New York, London, Houston and Los Angeles. GSO was founded in July 2005 by Bennett Goodman, Tripp Smith and Doug Ostrover. The firm draws on the skills and experience of its 115 employees worldwide to invest in a broad array of public and private securities across multiple investment strategies. Key areas of focus include leveraged loans, distressed investments, special situations, capital structure arbitrage, mezzanine securities and private equity. GSO manages capital on behalf of insurance companies, banks, pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices and fund of funds.

Notes to editors:

Mr. Bennett J. Goodman is the Senior Managing Partner of GSO. Prior to forming GSO, Mr. Goodman was the Managing Partner of the Alternative Capital Division of Credit Suisse First Boston (“CSFB”). This division consisted of CSFB’s global private equity and hedge funds groups with over $30 billion of assets under management. Previously, Mr. Goodman was the Global Head of Leveraged Finance at CSFB and was a member of the firm’s Executive Board and Management Council. Prior to CSFB, Mr. Goodman was at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (“DLJ”) where he helped establish the high yield bond business and served as Global Head of the Leveraged Finance Group. Prior to joining DLJ, he was a Vice President in the high yield group at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. Goodman is on the Board of Directors at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Cancer Research Institute and the American Jewish Committee (Westchester Chapter) and has served on the board of the Big Apple Circus. In 2004, Mr. Goodman received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Euromoney for his accomplishments in the capital markets. Mr. Goodman holds an engineering degree from Lafayette College and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Tripp Smith is a Managing Partner of GSO. Prior to founding GSO, Mr. Smith was Global Head of the Capital Markets Group within the Alternative Capital Division of CSFB since June 2004. The Capital Markets Group has $16 billion of assets under management including Credit Suisse's Credit Opportunities Fund, Mezzanine Investment Fund, CDO business and Hedge Fund-of-Fund business. Prior to that, Mr. Smith was a Managing Director and Global Co-Head of the Leveraged Finance Group. His responsibilities included the coordination of CSFB's global origination, distribution and trading activities relating to high yield securities, leveraged loans, high yield credit derivatives and distressed securities. Additionally, Mr. Smith was a member of the Investment Banking Operating Committee, Fixed Income Operating Committee and Co-Chair of the Bank/High Yield

Finance Committee. He was also a member of CSFB's Management Council. Mr. Smith joined CSFB in November 2000 when CSFB merged with DLJ, where he was Global Head of High Yield Capital Markets. Mr. Smith had been a member of DLJ's high yield team since he joined the firm in 1993. Prior to that, he worked for Smith Barney and Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. Smith received a B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame.

Douglas I. Ostrover is a Managing Partner of GSO. Prior to founding GSO, Mr. Ostrover was formerly a Managing Director of CSFB and Chairman of the Leveraged Finance Group. Prior to that, he was Global Co-Head of the Leveraged Finance Group. He was responsible for all of CSFB's origination, distribution and trading activities relating to high yield securities, leveraged loans, high yield credit derivatives and distressed securities. Mr. Ostrover was a member of CSFB's Management Council and the Fixed Income Operating Committee. Mr. Ostrover joined CSFB in November 2000 when CSFB merged with DLJ, where he was a Managing Director in charge of High Yield and Distressed Sales, Trading and Research. Mr. Ostrover had been a member of DLJ's high yield team since he joined the firm in 1992. Mr. Ostrover is on the Board of Directors of the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Mr. Ostrover received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business of New York University.

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