Westchester Assists BDR Customer Management Limited in Sale to Grass Roots Group plc

LONDON - June 15, 2006: Westchester Associates Limited (www.westchester.co.uk) today announced that it assisted BDR Customer Management Limited ("BDR") in its acquisition by Grass Roots plc ("Grass Roots").

Founded in 1997 by Andrew Wilmot, BDR provides electronic marketing solutions for customer acquisition, retention and loyalty. With the acquisition by Grass Roots, Mr. Wilmot will be leading his team to form a new Customer Strategy division within the core group business. Grass Roots is Europe's leading performance improvement company.

Mr. Wilmot in commenting on the transaction stated, "We have been looking for an international network through which to sell and support our Interactive Customer Lifecycle and Management Product - eMessagePlus.com. We believe that joining Grass Roots will provide enormous benefits for our clients by improving our access to a large pool of project managers, technical deployment personnel and other specialists. The culture fit was evident from the moment we began talking to each other and I'm confident that we will add huge value. We are very proud of what we have achieved to date and we look forward to exciting times ahead with the supporting infrastructure of Grass Roots".

Commenting on the contributions of Westchester Associates to the transaction process, Mr. Wilmot said, "Westchester managed and led the conversations with acquisition partners, and when we selected our preferred partner, Grass Roots, they were able to drive a programme of complex negotiations whilst the management team worked on collaboration and integration issues. The level of commitment, drive and enthusiasm for the deal was unwavering. Westchester were looking for contract clarifications right up to and including the day of contract completion. When things were moving fast Westchester were able to supplement professional advice in areas such as earn-out accounting and deal structure. It was a delight to work with Westchester."

< back