Washington, DC — The Carlyle Group, a leading global private equity firm, announced today that James A. Attwood, Former Executive Vice President — Strategy, Development and Planning at Verizon Communications, is joining Carlyle as Managing Director and head of its global telecommunications and media investment team, effective November 27. He will be based in Carlyle's offices in New York, New York.

"Jim Attwood has been a key player and driving influence in several of the most significant transactions in the telecommunications industry in recent years," said David M. Rubenstein, a co-founder of Carlyle, "and we are delighted that he will be coming to Carlyle to help lead our global telecommunications and media efforts."

At Verizon, Mr. Attwood was responsible for strategic planning, corporate strategy, and the company's overall M&A activity. He was instrumental in the creation of Verizon in June 2000, a result of the merger between GTE and Bell Atlantic. Prior to the merger, Mr. Attwood oversaw corporate strategy and development at GTE, and led the acquisitions of BBN (subsequently taken public as Genuity), the Puerto Rico Telephone Company, and Ameritech Cellular. He was also a key player in the creation of the national cellular joint venture between Verizon and Vodafone Airtouch, now Verizon Wireless.

Prior to joining GTE in 1996, Mr. Attwood served as a Vice President in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman, Sachs & Co. Mr. Attwood was awarded JD and MBA degrees from Harvard University in 1985. He also has an MA in statistics and a BA in applied mathematics, summa cum laude, from Yale University.