PLUS Markets plc ('PLUS') is a new small & mid-cap stock exchange for London, seeking to create the deepest pool of small & mid-cap liquidity in Europe. It is a Recognised Investment Exchange in the UK and a Market Operator under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive ('MiFID'), authorised to operate both secondary (trading) and primary (listing/quotation) markets.PLUS is fully committed to the principles of competition and choice for trading and listing equity securities in London. Indeed, PLUS introduced competition to small & mid-cap trading in London in December 2005 in response to customer demand, a full two years ahead of the implementation of MiFID in November 2007.PLUS is itself a smaller quoted company, with some 50 employees covering all core exchange functions including Business Development, Information Technology and Regulation. Based in the heart of the City of London, it meets stringent Financial Services Authority requirements in order to offer efficient access to the London investment community.

CBOE Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1973 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), the largest U.S. options exchange and creator of listed options, continues to set the bar for options trading through product innovation, trading technology and investor education. CBOE offers equity, index and ETF options, including proprietary products, such as S&P 500 options (SPX), the most active U.S. index option, and options on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), the world's barometer for market volatility. Other groundbreaking products engineered by CBOE include equity options, security index options, LEAPS options, FLEX options, and benchmark products, such as the CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (BXM).CBOE's Hybrid Trading System incorporates electronic and open outcry trading, enabling customers to choose their trading method. CBOE's Hybrid is powered by CBOEdirect, a proprietary, state-of-the-art electronic platform that also supports the CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE), CBOE Stock Exchange (CBSX) and OneChicago. CBOE is home to the world-renowned Options Institute and CBOE.com, named "Best of the Web" for options information and education.

Interactive Brokers Group serves investors who interact with world markets, focusing on the use of technology in securities trading. Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. does business through electronic market-maker Timber Hill, as well as its Interactive Brokers brokerage subsidiaries; it executes some 1 million trades daily in stocks, options, futures, foreign exchange, and corporate bonds. Customers may trade on about 80 exchanges and market centers worldwide. Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. caters to experienced individual and institutional investors. Large banks and brokerages can also provide the company's interface to their customers through a white-label arrangement. Founder and chairman Thomas Peterffy controls Interactive Brokers Group.

SWS Group, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Southwest Securities hopes stock prices go northeast. The primary subsidiary of SWS Group provides securities clearing and brokerage services to retail and institutional clients in more than 30 states, Canada, and Europe. Accounting for nearly three-quarters of SWS Group's revenues, the unit offers private client brokerage services, as well as retail managed accounts and insurance, through more than 20 offices in Texas, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. It also performs securities underwriting, securities lending, and public finance activities for institutional customers. In addition, SWS Group owns a bank, which is called Southwest Securities, FSB.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides data-driven and transaction-based marketing and customer loyalty solutions primarily in the United States and Canada. Alliance Data Systems Corporation operates through four segments: Loyalty Services, Epsilon Marketing Services, Private Label Services, and Private Label Credit. The Loyalty Services segment includes AIR MILES Reward Program. The AIR MILES Reward Program enables consumers to earn AIR MILES reward miles as they shop within a range of retailers and other sponsors participating in the AIR MILES Reward Program. These AIR MILES reward miles could be redeemed by its collectors for travel or other awards. Alliance Data Systems Corporation primarily serves financial services, specialty retail, grocery and drugstore chains, petroleum retail, technology, hospitality and travel, media, and pharmaceuticals markets. Alliance Data Systems Corporation was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Marlin Equity Partners, LLC was founded in 2005 and is based in El Segundo, California. Marlin Equity Partners, LLC is a private equity firm specializing in investments in corporate divestiture, carve-outs, extractions, management buyouts, recapitalizations, PIPES, and public-to-privates transactions. The firm also invests in special situations including bankruptcies, reorganization, debtor-in-possession financings, out of court restructurings, equity and debt recapitalizations, and operational turnarounds. It seeks to invest in middle market and mature companies and provides bridge financing. The firm typically invests in the technology, healthcare, consumer, services, manufacturing, distribution and logistics, aerospace and defense, and media sectors. Within technology, it focuses on software, hardware, payment and transaction processing and financial technology, telecommunications, and the Internet. Within healthcare, the firm focuses on healthcare technology and information technology, revenue cycle management, and services and outsourcing. Within consumer sector, it focuses on consumer products, ecommerce and direct marketing, footwear and apparel, food and beverage.

ORIX Capital Markets is the trading and asset management branch of ORIX USA Corporation, the US division of Japanese financial services giant ORIX Corporation. ORIX Capital Markets manages the group's securitized assets, bonds, leveraged loans, and other investments. After merging with affiliate ORIX Real Estate Capital, ORIX Capital Markets, LLC also finances, develops, and manages commercial real estate in the US and Canada. ORIX Capital Markets has more than $1 billion in assets under management, including collateralized debt obligations, mortgage-backed securities, and municipal securities.

InnoCal could almost be short for "in or around California," which is where the venture capital firm focuses on investing in early- and expansion-stage information technology companies. The company tends to focus on businesses involved with enterprise software and hardware, semiconductors, wireless and Internet technologies, and broadband communications. The firm's criteria for investing, besides geography, includes strong management teams, exclusive proprietary technologies, and market-dominating potential. InnoCal generally invests between $1 million and $5 million per company, and it limits the number of investments it makes in order to focus its attention on developing strategies for portfolio companies.

Matrix Asset Management was formed in early 2010 to group the assets of Matrix, SEAMARK, and GrowthWorks under one umbrella. The combined companies operate offices across Canada and manage about $3 billion in assets. Matrix Asset Management strives to be the investment point-of-origin for its clients. Part mutual fund manager, part private equity firm, Matrix Asset Management is the holding company for SEAMARK Asset Management, which offers portfolio management services to institutional and high-net-worth individuals; and GrowthWorks, a venture capital firm and fund manager. Other holdings include Mavrix Fund Management, a mutual funds manager and subsidiary of GrowthWorks.

Blum Capital Partners was founded in 1975 and is based in San Francisco, California. Blum Capital Partners is a private equity firm that specializes in investments in both public and private companies. It typically invests in small and mid-capitalization companies that have a market capitalization between $350 million and $3 billion. The firm takes a substantial position in each business, either through the acquisition of strategic blocks of common shares in the public market, privately-negotiated minority investment, or a private control position. It seeks to invest in fundamentally good companies that are undervalued. The firm prefers to have a seat on the boards of the portfolio companies. It typically invests with a two to more than four years holding period in its portfolio companies.

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