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The group is headed by Rich Keating and includes senior bankers Tim Monnin and Jeff McGrath. Six Corporate Finance investment bankers will also support the group, which will provide a range of capital raising products and services, including equity, convertible securities, debt origination, debt syndication and mergers and acquisition advisory services.

“This new group is positioned to provide the full range of capital and advisory services for growing IT services companies,” said Kevin Roche, head of Investment Banking for Wachovia Securities. “Technology is not only changing the way we manage information but the way we manage people, and this has – and will continue to have – a long-range effect on the economy and our industry.”

Keating previously headed Wachovia’s Business and Consumer Services Investment Banking Group. Monnin, a managing director, has joined the group from the Wachovia Securities Technology Investment Banking Group, and Jeff McGrath, a director, comes to the group with a background advising IT services providers in the government and commercial sectors.

“The creation of the group allows us to focus specifically on the needs of IT services and outsourcing companies,” Keating said. “We believe that increased demand for business process outsourcing will make this among the most exciting sectors for capital raising and M&A for the rest of 2002.”

The new group is a part of Wachovia Securities’ Investment Banking division, which includes the following industry coverage groups: Healthcare, Technology, Media and Communications, IT Services & Outsourcing, Financial Services, Real Estate, Consumer, Industrial Growth & Services, Defense and Aerospace and Energy.

Wachovia Securities is an integrated corporate and investment banking firm that deploys a full range of capital raising, market making and financial advisory services to meet the needs of corporate and institutional clients.

Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB), created through the September 1, 2001, merger of First Union and Wachovia, had assets of $320 billion and stockholder's equity of $29 billion at March 31, 2002. Wachovia is a leading provider of financial services to 20 million retail, brokerage and corporate customers throughout the East Coast and the nation. The company operates full-service banking offices under the First Union and Wachovia names in 11 East Coast states and Washington, D.C., and offers full-service brokerage with offices in 49 states and global services through more than 30 international offices. Online banking and brokerage products and services are available through wachovia.com and firstunion.com

Important Notice: Wachovia Securities is the trade name under which Wachovia Corporation conducts its investment banking, capital markets and institutional securities business through First Union Securities, Inc. (“FUSI”), Member NYSE, NASD, SIPC, and through other bank and non-bank and broker-dealer subsidiaries of Wachovia Corporation, including Wachovia Bank NA (“WBNA”).

First Union Securities is the trade name under which Wachovia Corporation conducts its asset management and mutual fund, brokerage and insurance businesses through: (1) First Union Securities, Inc. (“FUSI”), a registered broker-dealer and member NYSE/NASD and SIPC; (2) First Clearing Corporation (“FCC”), a separately registered broker-dealer and member NYSE/NASD and SIPC, providing securities clearance and settlement services; (3) First Union Securities Financial Network Inc., a separately registered broker-dealer and member of the NASD and SIPC providing full-service brokerage services; (4) the Capital Management Group within Wachovia Bank NA, a national banking association, and its subsidiaries, providing asset management, lending, and fiduciary services; (5) various subsidiaries within Wachovia Corporation providing investment advisory, administrative and other services to the Evergreen and Mentor families of mutual funds; and (6) various wholly-owned state insurance agencies.

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