NEW YORK, May 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE: EVR) announced today that Mark K. Friedman has agreed to join the firm's Advisory business as a Senior Managing Director. Mr. Friedman, who will be based in New York, will co-lead Evercore's Transportation Practice. Mr. Friedman will also establish and lead Evercore's new Shipping Advisory business. Mr. Friedman is a well regarded and experienced advisor to companies worldwide in the transportation and shipping space, having served as an advisor for more than 15 years at Merrill Lynch & Co. and Goldman, Sachs & Co. Previously, he was Head of U.S. Transportation & Infrastructure at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and was Global Head of its Shipping Investment Banking business. "The addition of a highly respected investment banking professional like Mark further demonstrates our commitment to expanding the scope of our Advisory sector coverage and geographic reach," said Roger Altman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Evercore Partners. "Mark's reputation and experience will help us further expand into the Transportation industries and his skill set will be extremely valuable to our clients, many of which are based internationally." While at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Friedman helped develop the firm's Transportation & Infrastructure and Shipping Practices into the leading advisory and underwriting business among investment banks. Mr. Friedman advised on a number of major transactions for transportation and travel companies, including: the purchase of The Sabre Group by Texas Pacific Group and Silver Lake Partners; the sale of Maritrans to Overseas Shipholding Group; the sale of CHC Helicopter Corporation to First Reserve Corporation; and the injection of COSCO's dry bulk fleet into China COSCO. "After more than 15 years of working at Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, I am very excited to join Evercore, one of the most well respected investment banking boutiques," said Mr. Friedman. "I look forward to joining my colleague George Ackert in developing Evercore's Transportation and Shipping Practices. Many of the industries within the Transportation sector have been adversely impacted by the worldwide recession, creating both opportunities and challenges for clients. I believe Evercore's platform will be very helpful to clients in the coming years as they seek to optimize their strategic and financial alternatives." Mr. Friedman, 46, holds a J.D. Degree with Honors from NYU School of Law and a B.S. in Economics with Highest Honors from Rutgers University. After graduating from law school, Mr. Friedman was as an Associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell. About Evercore Partners Evercore Partners is a leading investment banking boutique and investment management firm. Evercore's Advisory business counsels its clients on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings and other strategic transactions. Evercore's Investment Management business comprises private equity investing, institutional asset management and wealth management. Evercore serves a diverse set of clients around the world from its offices in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, London, Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico. More information about Evercore can be found on the Company's Web site at http://www.evercore.com/. EVR-X DATASOURCE: Evercore Partners Inc. CONTACT: Investors, Bob Walsh, Chief Financial Officer, Evercore Partners, +1-212-857-3100; or Media, Kenny Juarez or Dana Gorman, The Abernathy MacGregor Group, for Evercore Partners, +1-212-371-5999 Web Site: http://www.evercore.com/

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