Marlin & Associates Nominated as Middle Market Boutique Investment Bank of the Year

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - October 27, 2009) - Marlin & Associates New York LLC, the boutique investment banking firm specializing in acquisitions and divestitures of U.S. and international middle-market technology, information and business services firms, today announced that The M&A Advisor has named the firm a finalist for four of its annual M&A Awards, including Boutique Investment Banking Firm of the Year.

In addition, Marlin & Associates was nominated and is a finalist for three deal-of-the-year awards:

--  Cross-Border Middle-Market Deal of the Year
    
--  Information Technology Deal of the Year
    
--  Professional Services Deal of the Year
    

"We are truly astonished and gratified at the volume of nominations for these awards and the obvious enthusiasm behind them, despite the current state of the economy and the financial crisis. The response demonstrates the importance of the middle market industry to the overall health of the economy," says Roger Aguinaldo, CEO of The M&A Advisor.

"It is a particular honor to be nominated again as the Boutique Investment Bank of the Year," said Ken Marlin, Founder and Managing Partner of Marlin & Associates. "It is also an honor to have three different transactions on which we advised be nominated for three deal-of-the-year awards. We are humbled to be in the company of such well respected advisory firms."

Other finalists include BB&T Capital Markets, Robert W. Baird & Company, Raymond James, and Houlihan Lokey.

About The M&A Advisor Awards

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 and resourcefulness, persistence, business savvy, and value-added. The finalists are judged by an independent panel and award recipients will be announced at the 8th Annual M&A Awards Gala in New York City on December 14, 2009.

About Marlin & Associates

Founded in 2002, Marlin & Associates New York LLC ("M&A") is a boutique investment banking and strategic consulting firm focused on providing highly strategic, transaction-related services to U.S. and international middle-market firms engaged in technology, information, online media and business services. The firm is based in New York City, with offices in Washington, DC and Toronto, Canada. The firm has been the recipient of numerous awards. M&A's professionals have advised on over 200 successfully completed transactions in the technology and information services sector, recently including:

--  NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX), which Marlin & Associates advised in its
    sale of Hugin Group to Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI)
--  Vhayu Technologies of Los Gatos, California, which M&A advised on its
    sale to Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI).
--  Standard & Poor's of New York, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies
    (NYSE: MHP), which M&A advised in the sale of its Vista Research subsidiary
    to Guidepoint Global.
--  Tenfore of London, England, which M&A advised on its sale to
    Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN).
--  LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Group (LSE: REL), which M&A
    advised in the sale of its Mealey's Conferences subsidiary to Business
    Valuation Resources (BVR).
--  InfoDyne Corporation of Park Ridge, Illinois, which M&A advised on its
    sale to International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM).
--  LowerFees, Inc. of Westlake Village, California, which M&A advised on
    its sale to Bankrate, Inc. (NASDAQ: RATE).
--  Netik LLC of London, England and New York, which M&A advised on its
    simultaneous acquisition of Capco Reference Data Services and replacement
    of its primary investor, The Bank of New York Mellon Corp, with Symphony
    Technology Group.
--  Hemscott of London, England, a division of Ipreo Holdings LLC of New
    York (principally backed by Private Equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson),
    which M&A advised on the sale of Hemscott to Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN).
--  StarMine Corporation of San Francisco, which M&A advised on its sale
    to Reuters (now Thomson Reuters) (NYSE: TRI).
--  Applied Financial Technology (AFT) of San Francisco, which M&A advised
    on its sale to Lender Processing Services (NYSE: LPS), formerly a division
    of Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE: FIS).
--  Ventyx, Inc, an affiliate of Vista Equity Partners of San Francisco,
    which M&A advised in its acquisition of Global Energy Decisions of Boulder,
    Colorado.
--  Xcitek LLC's Market Data Division of New York, which M&A advised on
    its sale to Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC).
--  Brainpower N.V. of Lugano, Switzerland, which M&A advised on its sale
    to Bloomberg L.P.
--  Cameron Systems (Vic) of Sydney, Australia, which M&A advised on its
    sale to Orc Software of Stockholm, Sweden (STKM: ORC).
--  Derivative Solutions of Chicago, which M&A advised on its sale to
    FactSet Research Systems (NYSE: FDS).
--  Beauchamp Financial Technology Ltd. of London, England, which M&A
    advised on its sale to Linedata Services of Paris, France (PARIS: LIN).
    

For more information, go to www.MarlinLLC.com.

Contact Information: CONTACT: Marlin & Associates Contact@MarlinLLC.com +1 (212) 257-6300