Thomas Weisel Partners Completes Acquisition of Canadian Investment Bank Westwind Partners

On January 2, 2008, Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc., a US investment bank listed on the NASDAQ Global Market, completed its acquisition of Westwind Partners by way of a plan of arrangement. Westwind Partners is a full service institutionally oriented investment bank focused on the energy and mining sectors. Under the deal, which was signed at the end of September 2007, Thomas Weisel Partners agreed to pay US$45 million in cash and 7.009 million shares of, or exchangeable into, Thomas Weisel Partners common stock, for a total value of US$146.7 million on the date of announcement. On January 9, 2008, the common shares of Thomas Weisel Partners were approved for listing and commenced trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Thomas Weisel Partners' financial advisor on the transaction was its wholly-owned subsidiary, Thomas Weisel Partners LLC, and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods rendered a fairness opinion. Thomas Weisel Partners was represented in-house by General Counsel Mark Fisher, Andrew Stone and Michael Chien. The Canadian legal advisor to Thomas Weisel Partners was Stikeman Elliott LLP with a team that included Ken Ottenbreit, Gordon Cameron, Stewart Sutcliffe, Mark Fedorowycz, Mathieu Grenier (corporate), Dean Kraus, Francesco Gucciardo (tax), Eliot Kolers (court), Lorna Cuthbert (employment) and Sandy Walker (regulatory). The US legal advisor to Thomas Weisel Partners was Sullivan & Cromwell LLP with a team that included Scott Miller, Sarah Payne and Peter Mailhot (corporate); Andrew Mason and Dexter Samida (tax) and Frederick Wertheim (broker-dealer regulatory).

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP acted as legal advisor to Westwind Partners on the deal, with a team that included William Ainley, Philippe C. Rousseau, Paul Budovitch (corporate), Gerald Shepherd (US corporate), Duncan Osborne, Elie Roth (tax), Anita Banicevic (regulatory), James Doris, Philip Huynh (court) and Kent Beattie (real estate).