Asset Management Finance Investment Facilitates Recapitalization of River Road Asset Management

New York, November 17, 2008 – Asset Management Finance LLC (AMF) announced today that it has made an investment in River Road Asset Management, a leading value equity manager based in Louisville, KY. River Road used the capital to purchase the 45% minority ownership interest held by Fortis Bank, S.A./N.V.

This transaction is AMF’s sixth investment in the past 12 months, and 13th overall. AMF provided the capital to River Road in exchange for a limited-term Revenue Share Interest. During the term of the investment, AMF will hold a passive, non-voting interest in the firm.

"This deal is the culmination of an exhaustive evaluation by our management of the options available to achieve our goal of 100% employee-ownership," said Andrew Beck, River Road’s President and Co-Chairman. "The ability to offer greater equity participation to our employees creates a virtuous circle: it allows us to maintain our culture and independence, traits highly valued by our institutional and private clients, and also enables us to continue to grow our business."

River Road Asset Management was founded in 2005 and has approximately $3 billion of client assets under management. River Road provides institutional separate account and investment sub-advisory services to a broad range of domestic and international clients.

"River Road is an outstanding firm that we are thrilled to be associated with," said Norton Reamer, President and CEO of AMF. "In the current environment, solidity and stability in both ownership and investment process is a critical competitive advantage for investment managers. Our approach allows managers to maintain their independence, their focus on clients, and their entrepreneurial cultures."

Sean Gallary, Vice President at AMF, added, "We feel fortunate to partner with the team at River Road and to assist them in achieving this milestone transaction. We look forward to facilitating similar transactions with other successful investment managers going forward."

To date, AMF has invested in 13 firms with $50 billion in aggregate assets under management. AMF’s clients, both traditional and alternative asset managers, have used AMF’s capital for a broad range of initiatives, including owner liquidity, internal equity transfers, management buy-outs, acquisitions and other strategic initiatives.

Colchester Partners LLC acted as financial adviser to River Road Asset Management in connection with the transaction.

About River Road Asset Management
River Road Asset Management, LLC is an institutional investment management firm founded in April, 2005 by veteran value investor James C. Shircliff. Along with firm co-founders R. Andrew Beck and Henry W. Sanders, III, Mr. Shircliff formed River Road based upon an ‘Absolute Value’ investment discipline. Based in Louisville, KY, River Road employs 23 associates and manages nearly $3 billion in assets. The firm’s investment strategies include Small Cap Value, Small-Mid Cap Value, and Dividend All Cap Value. River Road provides institutional separate account and sub-advisory investment services to a broad range of domestic and international clients. River Road’s investment strategies are also available to retail investors in the U.S. through the Aston Asset Management family of mutual funds. Symbols for the funds are as follows: Small Cap Value - ARSVX, Small-Mid Cap Value - ARSMX, and Dividend All Cap Value - ARDEX. For more information please visit .