PlacementTracker Publishes PIPE Market League Tables

SAN DIEGO, July 7, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sagient Research Systems, a leading
publisher of independent research for the financial services and institutional
investment communities, today announced that Rodman & Renshaw, LLC ranked as the
number one most active investment bank and Iroquois Capital, L.P., ranked as the
number one most active institutional investor in the U.S. PIPE market during the
first half of 2009.

Sagient Research also announced that Cooley Godward Kronish, LLP ranked as the
number one most active issuer counsel, Greenberg Traurig, LLP ranked as the
number one most active investor counsel, and Proskauer Rose, LLP ranked as the
number one most active placement agent counsel in the U.S. PIPE market during
the first half of 2009.

PlacementTracker, a flagship product of Sagient Research Systems, is well
recognized as the leading provider of research, data, and analytics covering the
PIPE market.

Commenting on the League Tables, Robert F. Kyle, executive vice president of
Sagient Research said, "After a dismal first quarter, the second quarter of 2009
marked a return to substantial financing activity in the PIPE market. Through
June 30th, a total of $30.4 billion was raised in 484 transactions (of this
amount $9.3 billion has been announced but not yet closed as of 7/1/09).
Reflecting the positive sentiment and reduction in volatility in the general
market, we saw a return to the market by both active investors and agents who
had been largely absent during the most recent quarters. On the structuring
front, we witnessed an increase in registered direct activity, as the line
between the private and public markets continued to be blurred. As always, we
congratulate all of the active agents, investors, and legal counsel in the PIPE
market for a tremendous first half, especially those leaders who topped the
League Tables. Many of these firms are long-time clients of PlacementTracker,
and we look forward to continuing to provide them with industry leading data,
research, and analytics to help keep them on top of this market."

PlacementTracker's dynamically updating League Tables are available online at:
http://www.sagientresearch.com/pt/leaguetables.cfm.

The 2009 U.S. PIPE Market Investment Banking League Table
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By Number of Transactions (through 6/30/09):
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Transaction
Placement Agent Name Count Total Amount Placed
-------------------- ----------- -------------------
Rodman & Renshaw, LLC 29 $ 420,638,005.00
Piper Jaffray & Co. 9 $ 298,016,771.00
Lazard 9 $ 286,359,962.00
Roth Capital Partners, LLC 8 $ 172,280,113.00
Canaccord Adams, Inc. 7 $ 166,163,961.00
Midtown Partners & Co., LLC 5 $ 30,989,080.00
Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. 4 $ 101,982,137.00
Chardan Capital Markets 4 $ 10,627,742.00
Cowen and Company, LLC 3 $ 53,874,562.00
Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. 3 $ 42,069,353.00
Thomas Weisel Partners, LLC 3 $ 37,225,000.00
Pritchard Capital Partners LLC 2 $ 131,036,945.00
Wunderlich Securities, Inc. 2 $ 97,525,583.00
RBC Capital Markets, Inc. 2 $ 65,480,010.00
Jefferies & Company, Inc. 2 $ 49,975,000.00
Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. 2 $ 49,375,001.00
Needham & Company, Inc. 2 $ 43,050,000.00
JMP Securities, LLC 2 $ 39,480,012.00
Toll Cross Securities, Inc. 2 $ 26,150,031.00
Wedbush PacGrow Life Sciences 2 $ 22,000,000.00
Philadelphia Brokerage Corporation 2 $ 17,027,997.00
Garden State Securities, Inc. 2 $ 11,302,307.00
Dundee Securities Corporation 2 $ 10,297,654.00
Security Research Associates, Inc. 2 $ 2,830,375.00
Morgan Stanley 1 $ 350,000,000.00
Investment Banking rankings exclude all 144-A Offerings, Reg S Placements,
Equity Lines of Credit, Rights Offerings, Bought Deals, and all PIPE
transactions conducted by International issuers that trade in the U.S. on the
Pink Sheets. On transactions where an investment banking firm has acted solely
as Financial Advisor, that transaction has been excluded from that firm's
ranking. Co-agented transactions award full transaction credit to all agents
participating (regardless of status of lead agent or co-agent). Data is for
closed transactions reported as of 7/1/09.

The 2009 U.S. PIPE Market Institutional Investor League Table
-------------------------------------------------------------
By Number of Transactions (through 6/30/09):
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Transaction Total Amount
Investor Name Count Invested
------------- ----------- ----------------
Iroquois Capital L.P. 12 $ 43,739,492.00
Downsview Capital, Inc. 11 $ 36,975,120.00
Hudson Bay Capital Management L.P. 8 $ 31,379,158.00
Wellington Management Company, LLP 5 $ 87,363,993.00
Heights Capital Management, Inc. 5 $ 37,700,019.00
Vicis Capital, LLC 5 $ 20,500,000.00
Empery Asset Management L.P. 5 $ 11,560,000.00
Atoll Asset Management, LLC 5 $ 5,935,005.00
BAM Capital, LLC 4 $ 17,155,536.00
Bay City Capital, LLC 4 $ 15,256,586.00
Vision Capital Advisors, LLC 4 $ 8,189,655.00
The Frost Group, LLC 3 $ 59,480,000.00
Proquest Associates, LLC 3