Golden Gate Capital completes acquisition of Newport News and Spiegel

NEW YORK, NY (August 2004) – Golden Gate Capital announced that it has completed the acquisition of Newport News and Spiegel in partnership with Newport News and Spiegel management. The newly formed independent companies will retain the Newport News and Spiegel names, share a common management team and will be headquartered in New York, NY with facilities in Newport News, VA.

Newport News and Spiegel are two of the most popular catalog retailers of women’s apparel in the U.S. Newport News’ products are focused on affordable everyday apparel including dresses, jeans, swimsuits, pants, tops and accessories. Spiegel offers fashion forward apparel geared toward professional, urban women.

“We are excited to partner with the Newport and Spiegel management team and look forward to working with them to continue to pursue growth opportunities,” said Ken Diekroeger, a Managing Director of Golden Gate Capital. “Both Newport News and Spiegel have tremendously loyal customer bases. The companies’ strong management and merchandising teams have a history of offering successful products that are consistent, accessible and have high customer affinity.”

President and CEO Geralynn Madonna said the acquisition will better enable Newport News and Spiegel to focus on achieving profitable growth as standalone companies.

“We are extremely pleased to see that Newport News and Spiegel will move forward under new ownership,” said Madonna. “This presents an exciting new opportunity for both companies to reach full potential and is a testament to the strength of the brands and the effort put forth by the employees.”

About Golden Gate Capital

Golden Gate Capitalis a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm with approximately $2.5 billion of capital under management. Golden Gate is dedicated to partnering with world class management teams to invest in change-intensive, growth businesses. They target investments of up to $100 million in situations where there is a demonstrable opportunity to significantly enhance a company’s value. The principals of Golden Gate have a long and successful history of investing with management partners across a wide rage of industries and transaction types, including leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, corporate divestitures and spin-offs, build-ups and venture stage investing. For more information, visit www.goldengatecap.com.

About Newport News

Newport News reaches customers through the Newport News brand as a dual-channel, direct marketer of moderately priced women’s fashions. The company’s catalogs and e-commerce site are used by millions of customers shopping for consistent, affordable everyday clothing. Newport News is headquartered in New York, NY with operations in Newport News, VA. For more information, visit www.newport-news.com.

About Spiegel

Spiegel is a dual-channel direct marketer of fashion forward women’s apparel and accessories. The company is one of the most recognized brands in women’s clothing and caters to professional, urban women who are focused on style. The company sells its products through its catalogs and e-commerce site. Spiegel is headquartered in New York, NY with operations in Newport News, VA. For more information, visit www.spiegel.com.