Rome, January 30, 2008—The Rome office of Shearman & Sterling acted as US and English counsel to Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited in connection with the listing on Borsa Italiana and concurrent private placement to institutional investors outside the United States of the shares and warrants of Investimenti e Sviluppo Mediterraneo S.p.A. (IES Med). This transaction, which raised €50 million and closed on January 30, is the first initial public offering completed in Italy thus far in 2008.

IES Med is an investment company that intends to take majority and minority equity stakes in small and medium-sized companies located in the central and southern regions of Italy, pursuant to a business model that is a variant of the “special purpose acquisition company” structure that has become increasingly popular in the capital markets in recent months.

The Shearman & Sterling team was led by partner Michael Bosco (RO-CM), assisted by partner James Comyn (LO-MA) and associates Tommaso Tosi (RO-CM), Emanuele Trucco (RO-CM) and Manan Lahoty (LO-MA) and international trainees Maria Antonietta Romeo (RO-CM) and Francesco Zambon (RO-CM).