Carlyle Sells Part of eAccess Share Holdings Via Block Trade

Tokyo, Japan – Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group today announced that it sold part of its share holdings in eAccess Limited, one of the leading broadband providers in Japan, on March 11, 2004. The transaction was executed through a block trade through Nikko Citigroup Limited and made in conjunction with other lead shareholders. eAccess’ shares were at 438,000 yen per share at the market close on March 11th. This is Carlyle’s first exit from an investment in Japan.

Carlyle Managing Director, Haruyasu Asakura said, “Dr. Semmoto and the rest of the eAccess management team have done an exceptional job of leading eAccess through rapid growth. We are very pleased with the company’s operational and financial performance as well as its strong position in the capital markets. After this partial exit, Carlyle remains a major shareholder and will support eAccess in its future growth.”

eAccess was established in November 1999 to capitalize on the enormous growth potential of the Japanese broadband market by providing digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet access through major Internet service providers and systems integrators in Japan.

In September 2001, The Carlyle Group invested $26 million through its Carlyle Asia Venture Partners I fund as the pivotal lead investor in eAccess’ third private placement, along with Japan Telecom and others, and successfully capitalized the company with total funding of $90 million.

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