IRF European Finance Investments Ltd, today announces the commencement of dealings of its common shares and warrants on the AIM Market ('AIM') of the London Stock Exchange. Collins Stewart is acting as both Nominated Adviser and Broker to the Company in the UK. Sunrise Securities Corp acted in the US as the Lead Placement Agent. The stock market EPIC for the common shares and warrants are IRF.L and IRFW.L respectively.

The original placing of US$252 million attracted high levels of institutional interest resulting in it being oversubscribed, and the end gross proceeds for the Placing was US$275,000,040.

Angeliki Frangou, Chairman of IRF, said: 'We are delighted that the listing of the Company has been completed successfully. We witnessed strong institutional demand on both sides of the Atlantic for IRF and we now look forward to working with our new shareholder base going forward.'

Information on IRF

Current trading and prospects

The Company has not carried on any trading business prior to the date of this announcement.

Admission, Settlement and Dealings

Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for all of the issued common shares and warrants (including those to be issued pursuant to the placing) to be admitted to trading on AIM and to be quoted in US dollars. It is expected that Admission will become effective and that dealings will commence separately in the common shares and warrants today. Although the Company has placed the common shares and warrants in the form of Units, one Unit being one common share and two warrants, this is for the purposes of the Placing only.
Units will not be traded on AIM.

Please note that due to U.S. securities laws, the Company's common shares and warrants will trade only in certificated form during the ''distribution compliance period'' of at least 40 days described under ''Transfer Restrictions'' in the Admission Document, and will thereafter only be eligible for settlement through CREST upon delivery of the certificated security certificate to the Principal Registrar, Branch Registrar or UK Transfer Agent (as applicable) together with (i) certification that the holder is transferring the common shares or warrants in compliance with the provisions of Regulation S on the basis set forth in such certificate; and (ii) any other certification, legal opinions and/or evidence that we may request. Otherwise, the common shares and warrants will not be eligible for settlement electronically for an indefinite period of time. Further details are set out in the Admission Document.

Investing Strategy

It is the Company's intention to invest in the financial services industry in Europe but with a primary focus on credit institutions and insurance companies in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.

The Company expects to be an active investor and will seek, to the extent permitted by all applicable laws, to control the entities in which it invests.
No business combination shall be consummated unless such business combination has a transaction value of at least US$75,000,000.

The Directors believe that the pan-European financial markets are currently undergoing an integration process, driven by market forces, in which separate national financial markets gradually enter into competition with each other. The Directors believe that this process should eventually lead to one unified financial market, characterised by converging prices and efficiency among financial services providers.

The convergence is an ongoing process. The Directors believe that financial services institutions in Southern Europe, particularly Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, will significantly profit from this convergence process and undergo considerable growth, albeit on different timetables. While Greece is still underperforming in most comparable metrics regarding financial intermediation as compared to the average of the European Union, Greece's political and legal integration with the European markets is far more advanced than other South East European countries, such as Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, and the effects of the progressive convergence and financial development is more advanced than in these other countries.

The Directors believe that improvement in the political and economical stability in the region and the ongoing structural reforms should contribute to economic growth and should reinforce demand for financial services.

For the above reasons, the Directors believe that the financial services industry is a favourable industry in which to seek a merger or acquisition and an attractive operating environment for a target business.

Management

Directors and Executive Officers

The Company's current directors and executive officers include:

Angeliki Frangou (Chairman and Director (aged 40)) has been a Director since 15 September 2005 and the Chairman of the Board since 20 September 2005. Since August 2005, Ms. Frangou has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Navios Maritime Holdings, Inc., a global shipping company, the successor company of International Shipping Enterprises Inc., where she was Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer since its incorporation in 2004. Ms. Frangou was chief executive officer of Maritime Enterprises Management S.A., from October 2001 to 2004. From 1990 to October 2001, Ms. Frangou was the chief executive officer of Franser Shipping S.A. Prior to her employment with Franser Shipping, Ms. Frangou was an analyst on the trading floor of Republic National Bank of New York from 1987 to 1989. Ms. Frangou was a member of the board of directors of Emporiki Bank of Greece, the second largest retail bank in Greece, from April 2004 to August 2005.

Georgios Kintis (Chief Executive Officer and Director (aged 38)) has been a director of the Board since 15 September 2005 and chief executive officer since 20 September 2005. Mr. Kintis has been the chief executive officer of New Economy Development Fund (TANEO) S.A., a Euro 150 million fund-of-funds, located in Athens, sponsored by the Greek government in order to jump start the venture capital industry in Greece. Mr. Kintis is currently chairman of the Greek Venture Capital Association. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Kintis was the vice chairman of NBG Venture Capital Athens, a company that was located in Athens, Greece where he co-headed the venture capital operation of the National Bank of Greece since its inception. From 1998 to 1999, Mr. Kintis was vice president of NBG International Ltd., a company that was located in London, where he managed numerous corporate finance transactions. From 1997 to 1998, Mr. Kintis served as adviser to the governor of the National Bank of Greece.

Nicos Koulis (Deputy Chief Executive Officer (aged 48)) has been deputy chief executive officer since 20 September 2005. Since 2001, Mr. Koulis has been the president of Koulis & Associates, a company founded by Mr. Koulis, providing financial and strategic advise to clients on mergers, acquisitions and restructuring matters in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Between 1992 and 2001, Mr. Koulis was senior member of Bear Stearns' Financial Institutions Group (senior managing director since 1998) where he advised clients on mergers, acquisitions, restructurings and capital raising matters. Between 1987 and 1991, Mr. Koulis was a senior associate and then vice president of The First Boston Corporation's M&A Group. Between 1984 and 1987, Mr. Koulis was an associate with McKinsey & Company's Financial Institutions Group based in New York.