Marlin & Associates Opens Hong Kong Office and Names Industry Veteran Robert Agnew to Lead Asian Team

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Jul 6, 2011) - Marlin & Associates ("M&A"), the boutique investment banking and strategic advisory firm, today announced that the firm has opened a Hong Kong office to complement the firm's New York, NY; Washington, DC; and Toronto, Canada offices. The new Hong Kong office will be led by industry veteran, Robert ("Rob") Agnew and will be located at 1311 Capitol Centre Tower II, 28 Jardine's Crescent, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

"Rob comes to M&A with an impressive background," commented Ken Marlin, Founder and Managing Partner of Marlin & Associates. "His experience helping firms exploit the considerable opportunities in the fastest growing markets in the world and advising them as they navigate the challenges of doing business in Asia will be invaluable to our clients. We are pleased that he has joined us and we are fortunate to have attracted him to our team. His appointment will greatly add to our ability to advise Western clients seeking to expand in Asia and Asian clients seeking to capitalize on worldwide opportunities."

Robert Agnew has lived, worked and advised firms in Asia for more than 15 years. For the nine years immediately before joining M&A, Agnew founded and led Matrix Services Limited, a strategic advisory firm that advised Western and Asian companies looking to tap into the considerable opportunities in Asia. Matrix Services' clients included major global corporations such as Thomson Reuters, Interactive Data, the London and Australian Stock Exchanges, Haymarket and Dow Jones. Earlier in his career, Agnew worked for Reuters Group Plc. in various finance and management roles in the US and in Asia where, among other things, Agnew led the finance function of Reuters for the Greater China region.

Agnew is a graduate of the University College Dublin. He also holds a Masters degree from University of South Australia and an MBA from Edinburgh Business School. Agnew is active in the business community in Asia and is Chairman of the Irish Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong and Asia Pacific Ireland Business Forum.

Marlin & Associates is one of the most active investment banking and strategic advisory firms providing strategic and financial advice to worldwide buyers and sellers of middle-market technology firms. The firm is headquartered in New York, NY and has additional offices in Washington, DC and Toronto, Canada.

Marlin & Associates' team of professionals have advised on more than 200 transactions in more than a dozen countries involving companies that provide information and technology to a wide range of communities including those that serve the banking, capital markets, insurance, marketing and healthcare arenas. Recent Marlin & Associates clients include Photolibrary Group (Sydney, Australia); Subserveo (Vancouver, Canada); iSuppli (El Segundo, California); Qatarlyst (Doha, Qatar); SWIFT (Brussels, Belgium); NaviNet (Cambridge, Massachusetts); Deutsche Börse, and NYSE Euronext as well as a large array of firms owned by entrepreneurs, corporations, private equity and venture capital firms worldwide.

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. The firm is headquartered in New York, NY and has additional offices in Washington, DC, Toronto, Canada, and Hong Kong, China. Further information can be read at www.MarlinLLC.com.

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. Marlin & Associates' professionals have advised on more than 200 successfully completed transactions. Some other recent clients that Marlin & Associates has advised include:

- Subserveo, Inc. of Vancouver, Canada, which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE: DST);

- Photolibrary Group of Sydney, Australia, which Marlin & Associates advised on its sale to Getty Images, Inc.;

- 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).

Note to Editors:
A photo of Robert Agnew for publication is available from either contact listed on this release.