European Capital Announces euro 30 Million Share Repurchase Plan

St. Peter Port, Guernsey (ots/PRNewswire) -

European Capital Limited ("European Capital") (LSE: ECAS)
announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a share
repurchase plan.

Under this plan, European Capital may repurchase up to euro 30
million of its ordinary shares at prices below its net asset value,
as reported in its then most recently published financial
statements, and otherwise in accordance with resolutions adopted at
the company's annual general meeting held on 17 March 2008.

European Capital anticipates that share repurchases will be made
from time to time, depending upon market conditions. The repurchase
programme does not obligate European Capital to acquire any specific
number of shares and may be discontinued at any time.

European Capital intends to fund the repurchases with available
cash. The repurchase plan is expected to be in effect until 1 March
2009, or until the approved amount has been used to repurchase
shares.

"We believe that acquiring up to euro 30 million of our shares at
prices below European Capital's net asset value will be accretive on
a per share basis to our earnings and net asset value and will also
provide a great risk adjusted return to our shareholders," said
Malon Wilkus, European Capital Chairman. "In the first quarter of
2008, European Capital invested a total of euro 168 million in seven
companies, raised over euro 520 million in capital and realised euro
115 million from investments. Not only have our buyout and mezzanine
teams been making outstanding investments in some of Europe's best
middle market companies, but our capital raising activities and
portfolio realisations give us significant resources to continue
doing so."

ABOUT EUROPEAN CAPITAL

European Capital is a publicly traded investment company for
pan-European equity, mezzanine and senior debt investments with
current capital resources of approximately euro 2.8 billion (US$4.4
billion). It is managed by European Capital Financial Services
(Guernsey) Limited ("ECFGS"), an indirect wholly- owned affiliate of
American Capital Strategies Ltd. ECFSG, together with its wholly
owned subsidiary European Capital Financial Services Ltd ("ECFS"), is
referred to as the "Investment Manager". ECFS has offices in Paris,
London, Frankfurt and Madrid. As of 31 March 2008 the Investment
Manager had 44 investment professionals and 66 support staff.

European Capital invests in and sponsors management and employee
buyouts, invests in private equity buyouts and provides capital
directly to private and public companies headquartered primarily in
Europe. European Capital generally invests between euro 5 million
and euro 500 million per transaction in equity, mezzanine debt and
senior debt to fund growth, acquisitions and recapitalisations.

The investment objective of European Capital is to provide
investors with dividend income and the potential for share value
appreciation by investing in debt and equity investments in private
and public companies headquartered primarily in Europe.

European Capital seeks to achieve this through pursuing the
following types of investments:

European Capital One Stop Buyouts(TM)

Through our One Stop Buyouts(TM), European Capital provides
equity, mezzanine debt and senior debt as the lead investor in the
buyout of private and public companies.

Mezzanine Direct with Sponsors

European Capital provides debt and equity financing for buyouts
sponsored by private equity firms where European Capital is either
the sole or lead mezzanine debt investor.

Syndicated Mezzanine and Senior Debt

European Capital provides mezzanine and senior financing for
buyouts sponsored by private equity firms where European Capital is
neither the sole nor lead mezzanine or senior debt investor.

Direct Investments

European Capital provides debt and equity financing directly to
private and public companies, which is used for growth, acquisitions
or recapitalisations, and investing in structured finance vehicles.

Companies interested in learning more about European Capital's
flexible financing should contact Nathalie Faure Beaulieu at
+44-(0)20-7539-7000 in London, Jean Eichenlaub at
+33-(0)1-40-68-06-66 in Paris, Robert von Finckenstein at
+49-(0)-69-71-71-297-0 in Frankfurt, or Luis Felipe Castellanos at
+34-91-423-27-60 in Madrid, or visit the website at
www.EuropeanCapital.com.

ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL

American Capital Strategies Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS) is the only
private equity fund and alternative asset management company that is
a member of the S&P 500. With US$19 billion in capital resources
under management, the largest U.S. publicly traded alternative asset
manager.

American Capital, both directly and through its global asset
management business, is an investor in management and employee
buyouts, private equity buyouts, and early stage and mature private
and public companies. American Capital provides senior debt,
mezzanine debt and equity to fund growth, acquisitions,
recapitalisations and securitisations. American Capital and its
affiliates invest from US$5 million to US$800 million per company in
North America and euro 5 million to euro 500 million per company in
Europe.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES

This document may contain "forward-looking statements". By their
nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty
because they relate to future events and circumstances. Many of
these risks and uncertainties relate to factors beyond European
Capital's control or which cannot be estimated precisely. These
factors include, but are not limited to, uncertainties associated
with the timing of transaction closings, changes in interest rates,
availability of transactions, changes in regional, national or
international economic conditions, and changes in the conditions of
the industries in which European Capital has made investments. Actual
outcomes and results may therefore differ materially from any
outcomes or results expressed or implied by any such forward-looking
statements.

Performance data quoted above represents past performance of
European Capital. Past performance does not guarantee future results
and the investment return and principal value of an investment in
European Capital will likely fluctuate. Consequently, an investor's
shares, when sold, may be worth more or less than their original
cost. Additionally, European Capital's current performance may be
lower or higher than the performance data quoted above.

Nothing in this document is intended to be a profit forecast.

Web site: http://www.americancapital.com
http://www.EuropeanCapital.com

ots Originaltext: European Capital
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
John Erickson, Dir., European Capital Financial Services (Guernsey)
Limited, or Tom McHale, Dir., European Capital Financial Services
Limited, or Justin Cressall, Equity Capital Markets, European Capital
Financial Services Limited, all of European Capital Limited,
+1-301-951-6122