LATHAM & WATKINS

Arrival of prominent banking and finance partner marks significant milestone in Latham’s growth in Italy

Milan, September 10, 2009…Latham & Watkins LLP1 is pleased to announce that Riccardo Agostinelli has joined the firm as a partner in the Finance Department in the Milan office. Agostinelli has extensive expertise in leveraged finance, banking and restructuring transactions. His clients include Italian and international banks, private equity firms, asset managers and other financial institutions. Agostinelli is an accomplished and versatile finance practitioner with nearly two decades of experience advising on high value, complex transactions.

Counsel Lorenzo Vernetti joins Latham & Watkins with Agostinelli. His practice focuses on acquisition finance, leveraged finance, debt restructurings, real estate finance and corporate banking matters.

“Riccardo’s exceptional reputation in the Italian market reflects his abundant talents, industry knowledge and entrepreneurial qualities. Riccardo will play a key role in further developing our finance practice in Italy and Europe,” said Fabio Coppola, Latham & Watkins’ Office Managing Partner in Italy. “We are also excited to have Lorenzo and associate Marco Leonardi join the firm. The team is highly regarded in the market for their considerable experience and client service, and they are a perfect fit for our growth plans.”

Andrea Novarese, Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Finance Department in Italy, added: “We are focused on delivering on our strategic vision to be among the top tier transactional practices in Italy, and Riccardo’s arrival is another significant step toward this goal. We are proud of our accomplishments in Italy in what has been a relatively short period of time and Riccardo’s decision to join Latham underscores our European and global credentials in the financial markets. Having witnessed his prodigious talents from across the table, we are delighted that he has decided to join our team.”

“My time at Ashurst was filled with many interesting and successful deals, wonderful colleagues and terrific clients. After nearly 10 years at Ashurst, however, I feel

ready for a new challenge,” said Agostinelli. “Latham & Watkins’ global reach and stature in the world’s financial, business and regulatory capitals is very compelling. Latham’s steady growth is impressive, and the quality of its international platform and delivery of high-end corporate and finance services are very attractive to us.”

The attorneys join Latham & Watkins from Ashurst. Agostinelli previously served as managing partner of Ashurst’s Milan office.

Latham & Watkins’ Italian practice comprises approximately 40 Italian qualified and international lawyers. With offices in Milan and Rome, the team regularly represents Italian and global companies and financial institutions in capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, leveraged finance, insolvency and restructuring, and real estate transactions, and also advises Italian and multinational clients on general corporate and antitrust matters.

Widely recognized as one of the premier transactional teams in the market, Latham has advised on a number of high profile matters, including most recently representing Intesa Sanpaolo in the preparation, negotiation and execution of the €30 million financing to Prinoth Ltd for the acquisition of certain assets of Camoplast, advising a pool of Italian and international banks led by Mediobanca and including Intesa SanPaolo, Unicredit, MPS and WestLB, in the negotiation and execution of the €600 million financing for Sorgenia Power S.p.A. for the construction and operation of two new combined-cycle power plants in Lodi and Aprilia, and advising Pininfarina, a leading Italian automotive design company and niche car manufacturer, in the second phase of its restructuring and in its rights offering launched in July 2009.

Notes to Editor

1 Latham & Watkins operates as a limited liability partnership worldwide with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in the United Kingdom, France and Italy and an affiliated partnership conducting the practice in Hong Kong.

About Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins is a global law firm with approximately 2,000 attorneys in 27 offices, including Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Brussels, Chicago, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, New Jersey, New York, Orange County, Paris, Rome, San Diego, San Francisco, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. For more information on Latham & Watkins, please visit the Web site at www.lw.com.

Contacts Fabio Coppola, Office Managing Partner, Italy +39.02.3046.2041 Andrea Novarese, Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Finance Department in Italy +39.02.3046.2043

Christoph Schlüter

Public Relations Manager

LATHAM & WATKINS LLP

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60323 Frankfurt am Main

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Direct Dial: +49.69.6062.6520

Fax: +49.69.6062.6700

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Email: christoph.schlueter@lw.com

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