Marlin & Associates Nominated for Boutique Investment Banking Firm of the Year

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Apr 27, 2011) - Marlin & Associates ("Marlin"), the boutique investment banking and strategic advisory firm, today announced that the firm has been nominated and named a finalist for Boutique Investment Bank of the Year. Additionally, five transactions on which Marlin advised were named finalists for "Deal-of-the-Year" Awards, including:

• SMARTS Group (Sydney, Australia), which Marlin advised on its sale to NASDAQ OMX;
  
  
• Avox (Wexford Wales, UK), a majority-owned company of Deutsche Börse, which Marlin advised on its sale to The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC);
  
  
• iSuppli Corporation (El Segundo, California), which Marlin advised on its sale to IHS Inc.;
  
  
• SWIFT (Brussels, Belgium), which Marlin advised on its acquisition of Ambit Messaging Hub from SunGard; and
  
  
• Qatar Insurance Services (Doha, Qatar), which Marlin advised on its acquisition of RI3K (London, UK).

Each year, The M&A Advisor, a conference producer and newsletter publisher serving the middle market finance industry, recognizes top deal-making professionals serving the $10 million - $1 billion (sales) market in fields such as investment banking, private equity, legal services, and accounting. The awards are made on the basis of creativity, resourcefulness, persistence, business savvy, and value-added. The finalists are judged by an independent panel. The winners will be announced at the 6^th Annual Financing Awards Gala on the evening of Monday, May 16 at The Drake Hotel in Chicago, Illinois.

"It is humbling to be nominated again as the 'Boutique Investment Bank of the Year' and again to be a finalist for these 'Deal-of-the-Year' Awards," said Ken Marlin, Founder and Managing Partner of Marlin & Associates. "We are grateful to be recognized for our hard work during tough times. We are more pleased that we were able to help our clients achieve the results that they sought."

"It is an honor to recognize the achievements and accomplishments of Marlin & Associates," said Roger Aguinaldo, CEO of The M&A Advisor. "We are very impressed with the quality of the nominations for the 2011 Financing Awards and the range of leading and emerging firms who are finalist candidates. As we continue through this period of recovery, the activity clearly demonstrates the importance of the financing industry to the overall health of the economy."

Marlin & Associates is one of the most active firms advising buyers and sellers of US and international middle-market information-technology firms. The firm is headquartered in New York, NY and has additional offices in Washington, DC and Toronto, Canada. Marlin has been the recipient of numerous awards, including twice being named "Middle-Market Investment Banking Firm of the Year," as well as the "Middle-Market Financing Agent of the Year -- Equity," and has been recognized for leading multiple "Deals-of-the-Year" Awards including: the "Financial Technology Deal of the Year," the "International Cross-Border Deal of the Year," and the "Middle-Market Financing -- Computer, Technology and Telecommunications Deal of the Year." Marlin & Associates' team of professionals has advised over 200 information-technology transactions.

AboutM&A Advisor's 6th Annual Middle-Market Financing Awards

The M&A Advisor's 6th Annual Middle-Market Financing Awards Gala is a premier feature of the M&A Advisor's Alternative Investing and Financing Summit. The program attracted finalist companies in 22 different categories in preparation for its annual tribute to the outstanding achievements in the middle market financing industry. An independent body of experts, who represent a cross-section of the middle market financing industry, will judge the finalists' deals.

About Marlin & Associates

Marlin & Associates Holding LLC is a boutique investment banking and strategic advisory firm specializing in acquisitions and divestitures of U.S. and international middle-market firms that provide technology, digital information and healthcare-related products, technology and services. Marlin & Associates Securities LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marlin & Associates Holding LLC, is a broker-dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is a FINRA/SIPC member firm (www.finra.org). Investment banking and/or securities are offered through Marlin & Associates Securities LLC. More information is available at www.MarlinLLC.com. Some clients that Marlin & Associates has advised include:

- NaviNet, Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, which Marlin & Associates advised on the purchase of Prematics;

- iSuppli of El Segundo, California, which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to IHS (NYSE: IHS);

- Qatarlyst of Doha, Qatar, which Marlin & Associates advised on its acquisition of London-based RI3K;

- SMARTS Group of Sydney, Australia, which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to NASDAQ OMX (NASDAQ: NDAQ);

- SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) of Brussels, Belgium, which Marlin & Associates advised on its acquisition of Ambit Messaging Hub from SunGard;

- Avox of Wexford Wales, UK, a majority-owned company of Deutsche Börse (ETR: DB1), which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC);

- Strategic Analytics of Santa Fe, New Mexico, which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ: VRSK);

- Logical Information Machines, Inc. (LIM) of Chicago, Illinois, which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN);

- NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) of New York, New York, which Marlin & Associates advised on the sale of its Hugin subsidiary to Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI);

- Vhayu Technologies of Los Gatos, California, which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI);

- Standard & Poor's of New York, New York a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), which Marlin & Associates advised on the sale of its Vista Research subsidiary to Guidepoint Global;

- Tenfore of London, England, which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN);

- LexisNexis of Dayton, Ohio, which Marlin & Associates advised on the sale of its subsidiary Mealey's Conference to Business Valuation Resources (BVR);

- InfoDyne Corp. of Park Ridge, Illinois, which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM);

- Orimos of Zurich, Switzerland, which Marlin & Associates advised on its acquisition of ION Trading;

- LowerFees, Inc. of Westlake Village, California, which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to Bankrate, Inc. (NASDAQ: RATE);

- Netik LLC of London, England and New York, New York, which Marlin & Associates advised on its simultaneous acquisition of Capco Reference Data Services and the replacement of its primary investor, The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK), with Symphony Technology Group;

- Applied Financial Technology (AFT) of San Francisco, California, which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to Lender Processing Services (NYSE: LPS);

- Xcitek LLC's Market Data Division of New York, NY, which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to Interactive Data Corp.