AGM - French Partnership Strengthened

Close Brothers Group PLC
3 November 1999


Close Brothers Group PLC
Close Brothers strengthens partnership in France


As announced at the Annual General Meeting this morning,
Close Brothers Group plc, through its subsidiary Close
Brothers Corporate Finance Limited ('CBCF'), has further
strengthened its position in Europe by acquiring a
significant minority shareholding (thirty per cent) in Dome
& Cie SA ('Dome'), a rapidly expanding French independent
corporate finance house.  Under the terms of the agreement
CBCF can acquire a majority shareholding after a five year
period.

Based in Paris, the business, which has been renamed Dome
Close Brothers, was established in 1989 and has been part of
the CBCF associate network for a number of years.  The
company focuses on mid-sized acquisition and sale mandates
in France for domestic and international clients such as
Bull, Atochem, Caisse des Depots and the Volvo Group.

The team numbers sixteen professionals and at 30 June 1999
the business had net assets of approximately FRF 15 million.

Olivier Dousset, Chairman of Dome Close Brothers, commented:

'As Dome reaches its ten year mark, we felt the need to
reinforce our structure and Close Brothers was the obvious
choice.  The similarity of the approach, the constant focus
on quality work and the strong entrepreneurial spirit within
Close Brothers make us very enthusiastic at the prospect of
this new step.  With Close Brothers, we will be able to
develop joint European sector initiatives and increase our
international reach.  This alliance was the best way to
increase our own capacity whilst maintaining the same
entrepreneurial spirit and custom made approach.'

John Llewellyn-Lloyd, Chief Executive of Close Brothers
Corporate Finance said:

'The Dome team has established a high quality domestic
corporate finance business.  Dome Close Brothers  provides
us with an excellent base from which further to expand and
take advantage of the growing market in France for
independent financial advice.  Together with Freyberg Close
Brothers in Frankfurt, and Close Brothers Equity Markets,
which focuses on private placements and IPOs for European
growth companies, we are now well placed to develop a major
corporate finance business in Europe focused on providing a
high quality service to its clients.'

Contacts:

Rod Kent / Peter Winkworth
Close Brothers Group                         020 7655 3220

John Llewellyn-Lloyd
Close Brothers Corporate Finance              020 7655 3164

Olivier Dousset
Dome Close Brothers                      00 331 53 30 02 03

Charles Watson / Nic Bennett
Financial Dynamics                            020 7831 3113


Notes to Editors:

Close Brothers Corporate Finance, part of Close Brothers
Group, is one of the UK's top financial advisers and one of
the City's most experienced corporate advisory teams.  That
experience, combined with a commitment to providing the
best advice, has made CBCF the UK's number one adviser for
growing companies.

CBCF employs 70 corporate finance professionals in London
and serves more than 80 publicly-quoted companies in the UK.
The team focuses its skills and expertise on specific
industry sectors, and works in partnership with its clients
to create appropriate and innovative solutions to strategic
issues.

The transaction announced today is a further step in
developing CBCF's strategy for a pan-European corporate
finance network centred on strong domestic businesses of
similar size based in Paris, Frankfurt and London.  It
follows the recent acquisition by CBCF of specialist German
M&A advisory house Freyberg Hambros (subsequently renamed
Freyberg Close Brothers) in November 1998 and of the private
placement and IPO specialist Hambrecht & Quist Euromarkets
SA (subsequently renamed Close Brothers Equity Markets) in
February 1999.