Emily Mendell, NVCA, 610-359-9609, emendell@nvca.org Joshua Radler, Thomson Venture Economics, 212-806-3146, joshua.radler@thomson.com

2004 VENTURE-BACKED IPO ACTIVITY

EXCEEDED PRIOR THREE YEARS COMBINED

TECH BUBBLE BURST SURVIVORS ENTER MARKETS STRONGLY

Cross-Sector Activity in Q4 Suggests Sustainable Momentum in 2005 New York, NY- January 3, 2005—Twenty-seven venture-backed companies raised $2.99 billion through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in the fourth quarter of 2004 marking the third consecutive quarter of more than twenty IPOs and the fourth consecutive quarter with at least $2.0 billion in total offerings, according to Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). For the full year 2004, ninety-three venture-backed IPOs raised a total of $11.0 billion, more than tripling the IPO activity in 2003 when twenty-nine venture-backed companies went public for $2.0 billion. “It is interesting to note that 62% of the venture-backed companies that went public in 2004 received their first rounds of funding between 1997 and 2000, immediately before the recession,” said Mark Heesen, President of NVCA. “The public markets are now embracing many of these companies that went through the bubble burst and lived to tell. These organizations had sound business models and did what it took to weather through some very difficult times with positive results. We expect to see more of the same in 2005 as these phoenixes rise from the ashes in a resilient and impressive manner.” “2004 proved to be an exceptional year in the public equity markets as indicated by the substantial increase in the number of venture-backed IPO’s," said Sandra Ribeiro, Research Director of Thomson Venture Economics. "As venture capitalists focused their attentions on growing and maintaining their existing portfolio companies, these companies with solid financial statements are now able to take advantage of the favorable exit market, a trend that is likely to continue in 2005.” The fourth quarter 2004 venture-backed IPO market was driven by the Technology sector accounting for seventeen of the twenty-seven IPOs and $1.2 billion of the $2.99 billion total offering amount during the quarter. The Life Sciences sector had seven venture-backed IPOs raising a total of $496.7 million in the fourth quarter. However, the largest venture-backed IPO in Q4 was an all-digital studio and entertainment company, DreamWorks Animation, which raised $812.0 million. The next largest venture-backed IPOs were: Bill Barrett Corporation, which raised $325.0 million; Build-a-Bear Workshop, Inc., which raised $149.6 million; InPhonic, Inc which had an offering amount of $142.5 million; and Shopping.com, which raised $123.7 million. The largest Life Sciences IPO in the quarter was Theravance, Inc., which raised $98.4 million.

Analysis of Recent Quarters' IPOs

Quarter Ending

Number of IPO's in

the U.S.

Number of

Venture Backed IPO's in the U.S.

Total Venture Backed

Offering Size

($Mill)

Avg. Venture Backed

Offering Size

($Mill)

Total Venture Backed

Post Offering

Value ($Mill)

Avg. Venture Backed

Post Offering

Value ($Mill)

6/30/2002 35 15 1,836.1 122.4 5,917.6 394.59/30/2002 8 1 30.0 30.0 153.4 153.4

12/31/2002 27 4 231.2 57.8 523.8 130.93/31/2003 5 1 77.2 77.2 147.8 147.86/30/2003 5 2 164.0 82.0 695.3 347.69/30/2003 20 9 732.8 81.4 3,064.5 340.5

12/31/2003 52 17 1,048.7 61.7 4,349.9 255.93/31/2004 42 13 2,721.1 209.3 10,575.0 813.56/30/2004 58 29 2,077.8 71.6 8,930.4 307.99/30/2004 67 24 3,225.6 134.4 29,596.8 1,233.2

12/31/2004 82 27 2,990.4 110.8 11,985.4 443.9 Thomson Venture Economics & National Venture Capital Association

Analysis of Recent Years' IPOs

Year Ending

Number of IPO's in

the U.S.

Number of Venture

Backed IPO's in the U.S.

Total Venture Backed

Offering Size

($Mill)

Avg. Venture Backed

Offering Size

($Mill)

Total Venture Backed

Post Offering

Value ($Mill)

Avg. Venture Backed

Post Offering

Value ($Mill)

2001 83 41 3,489.9 85.1 18,004.0 439.12002 81 24 2,473.5 103.1 8,992.8 374.72003 82 29 2,022.7 69.8 8,257.4 284.72004 249 93 11,014.9 118.4 61,087.7 656.9

Thomson Venture Economics & National Venture Capital Association

Number of Venture Backed

IPO's in the U.S.

Total Venture Backed

Offering Size ($Mil)

Venture Backed

Post Offering

Value ($Mill)

Internet Specific 21 3,204.0 30,460.7Communications/Media 7 680.8 2,677.0Semiconductor 6 2,176.0 8,121.9Computer Software 5 286.8 937.7Computer Hardware 3 273.0 971.7

TOTAL 42 6,620.6 43,169.0Medical/Health 25 1,440.7 5,988.9Biotechnology 16 946.7 4,444.8

TOTAL 41 2,387.4 10,433.7Non-high Technology 10 2,006.9 7,485.1

TOTAL 10 2,006.9 7,485.1

2004 Venture-Backed by Industry

Other

Industry

Technology

Life Sciences

Thomson Venture Economics & National Venture Capital Association

In 2004, the Technology sector saw forty-two venture-backed companies raise a total of $6.6 billion with the Internet Specific category leading the sector with twenty-one IPOs raising $3.2 billion. The Life Sciences sector saw forty-one companies raise a total of $2.4 billion; non-high technology had ten IPOs raising $2.0 billion. The 5 largest IPOs of the year spanned five different industry sectors: Semiconductors, Internet, Entertainment, Exploration, and Fitness. Top offerings in other major industry sectors included InPhonic Inc (Communications), Symbion (Medical/Health) and EyeTech Pharmaceuticals (Biotech). Of the ninety-three IPOs for the year, eighty-three companies were domiciled in the US; eight companies, in China; two in Israel. All of the venture-backed IPOs included in this data went public on a US exchange and had US-based VCs as investors. Top 20 Venture-Backed IPOs on US Exchanges by Offer Amount (USD Mil) Company Name Offer Amt (USD Mil)

**Post Offer Value (USD Mil)

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (AKA: SMIC)

1803.03

6646.70

Google, Inc.

1666.43

23053.67

DreamWorks Animation, Inc.

812.00

2959.19

Bill Barrett Corporation

325.00

1009.30

FCA, Ltd. (AKA: Life Time Fitness)

183.15

614.37

MortgageIT, Inc.

175.20

232.31

Cabela's, Inc.

156.25

1295.40

Shanda Interactive Entertainment (AKA: Shanda Networking)

152.40

152.40

Build-a-Bear Workshop, Inc.

149.64

391.03

InPhonic, Inc.

142.50

603.05

Ness Technologies, Inc. 140.06 372.26

EyeTech Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

136.50

808.18

SiRF Technology, Inc.

132.00

526.14

Archipelago Holdings, LLC

126.50

524.33

Atheros Communications, Inc. (FKA: T-Span Systems Corp.)

126.00

636.32

Shopping.com (FKA: DealTime.com, Inc.)

123.68

500.64

Arbinet-thexchange, Inc. (FKA: Arbinet Holdings, Inc.)

114.37

423.15

SalesForce.com, Inc.

110.00

1113.83

Symbion, Inc. (FKA: UniPhy Healthcare, Inc.)

108.00

293.97

PortalPlayer, Inc.

106.25

376.25

Thomson Venture Economics & National Venture Capital Association **The post offer value represents the value of all shares outstanding (primary shares, management shares, etc.) at the offer date Funding History for Venture-Backed Companies That Went Public in 2004 Year of First Investments Total # of Venture-

Backed Companies That Received First Funding In:

1988 1 1990 1 1993 1 1994 1 1995 6 1996 7 1997 10 1998 13 1999 20 2000 15 2001 8 2002 5 2003 5 Total 93 Thomson Venture Economics & National Venture Capital Association An examination of funding histories reveals that 81% of the venture-backed companies that went public in 2004 received their first round of venture financing prior to the technology bubble burst, demonstrating the improving availability of viable exit options for companies that survived the recession. As of December 30, sixty-nine of the ninety-three companies, or 74%, were trading at or above their offering price. The venture-backed IPO market continues to look promising into 2005, with fifty-seven companies currently “in registration” with the Securities and Exchange Commission, meaning that they have filed during 2004 and are currently preparing for their initial public offerings. This compares with thirty-one venture-backed companies that were in registration at the end of 2003.

The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) represents approximately 450 venture capital and private equity firms. NVCA's mission is to foster a greater understanding of the importance of venture capital to the U.S. economy, and support entrepreneurial activity and innovation. According to a 2004 Global Insight study, venture-backed companies accounted for 10.1 million jobs and $1.8 trillion in revenue in the U.S. in 2003. The NVCA represents the public policy interests of the venture capital community, strives to maintain high professional standards, provides reliable industry data, sponsors professional development, and facilitates interaction among its members. For more information about the NVCA, please visit www.nvca.org. Thomson Venture Economics, a Thomson Financial company, is the foremost information provider for equity professionals worldwide. Venture Economics offers an unparalleled range of products from directories to conferences, journals, newsletters, research reports, and the Venture Expert™ database. For over 40 years, Venture Economics has been tracking the venture capital and buyouts industry. Since 1961, it has been a recognized source for comprehensive analysis of investment activity and performance of the private equity industry. Venture Economics maintains a long-standing relationship within the private equity investment community, in-depth industry knowledge, and proprietary research techniques. Private equity managers and institutional investors alike consider Venture Economics information to be the industry standard. For more information about Venture Economics, please visit www.ventureeconomics.com. Thomson Financial Thomson Financial is a US$1.5 billion provider of information and technology solutions to the worldwide financial community. Through the widest range of products and services in the industry, Thomson Financial helps clients in more than 70 countries make better decisions, be more productive and achieve superior results. Thomson Financial is part of The Thomson Corporation ( www.thomson.com), a leading provider of value-added information, software tools and applications to more than 20 million users in the fields of law, tax, accounting, financial services, higher education, reference information, corporate training and assessment, scientific research and healthcare. With revenues of US$7.44 billion, The Thomson Corporation lists its common shares on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC).