MORE SELLERS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FAVORABLE STAFFING INDUSTRY M&A DYNAMICS

HOUSTON, TX, July 10, 2006 – Growth Capital Partners reported today that 39 staffing businesses were sold or merged in the second quarter of 2006, a 22% increase as compared to the 32 transactions announced in the first quarter of 2006. For the first six months of 2006, 71 transactions have been reported. We are observing an increasing number of high quality staffing companies now taking advantage of favorable industry M&A dynamics. The number of successfully completed staffing transactions is expected to increase substantially in the second half of 2006 as deals currently being negotiated are finalized.

Professional staffing companies, including those in the IT services, engineering/technical, healthcare, finance and accounting, and legal staffing industries, continue to be the most attractive targets for buyers as 74% of the announced transactions in the second quarter involved professional staffing firms. Within the professional staffing sector, IT services companies, consisting of both IT staffing and IT solutions firms, saw the most M&A activity with 11 announced transactions in the second quarter and 20 year to date. On the commercial staffing side, deal flow continues to improve as 10 transactions were announced in the second quarter and 16 year to date.

“Professional staffing continues to be the focus for the majority of buyers who are aggressively seeking transactions in the current staffing M&A market,” commented John Niehaus, Director of Staffing Services and Human Capital Management for Growth Capital Partners. “Companies in the IT, healthcare, legal, and finance and accounting sectors with substantial size, above average margins, strong management and a diversified listing of clients are strongly in demand and generating multiple offers.”

“It appears that many sellers have decided to take advantage of this ‘window of opportunity’, including many private equity groups who held investments in the staffing sector and were unable to exit over the past few years,” continued Mr. Niehaus. “With capital gains tax rates low, interest rates still relatively low, and a strong economy driving growth for the staffing industry, this is an opportune time to consider a sale of a staffing business.”

Among the notable deals announced in the second quarter of 2006, Vedior NV acquired CNC Global, a leading Canadian IT staffing company formerly owned by Torquest Partners Value Fund; Remedytemp, Inc. agreed to sell to SELECT Personnel Services, a privately-held commercial staffing company based in California; Interim Healthcare, a home health services and healthcare staffing company formerly owned by Cornerstone Equity Investors and Bank of America Capital Investors, sold to Sentinel Capital Partners; and Club Staffing, an allied healthcare staffing company formerly owned by Olympus Partners, was acquired by Nursefinders, a healthcare staffing company owned by Gryphon Investors.

Growth Capital Partners, L.P. is a premier, client-focused investment and merchant bank serving both private and public middle-market companies, with a specialty practice devoted to the Staffing industry. Since the firm's inception in 1992, GCP has completed in excess of 200 transactions, raised more than $1 billion of institutional capital (through private placements of equity, subordinated, and senior debt), and completed merger and acquisition transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $2.0 billion.

For more information on Growth Capital Partners’ services, including its specialty practice for Staffing, IT Services and HRO companies, please contact John Niehaus at jniehaus@growth-capital.com or visit our website at www.growth-capital.com.

Source:  Growth Capital Partners, L.P. member FINRA – SIPC

Growth Capital Partners, L.P. Securities offered through GCP Securities, Inc. member FINRA– SIPC

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