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To: lkj who wrote (4825)	1/5/2000 8:49:00 AM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 13582

VeloCom Completes Largest Venture-backed Private Placement in Latin American Telecom History $250 Million Deal is Largest in Colorado History Fourth-Largest in U.S. DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 2000--VeloCom Inc., a rapidly growing international broadband telecommunications company, today announced the completion of a $250 million private equity offering. According to independent research conducted by Securities Data Corporation and the VentureOne Corp., the placement is the largest venture-backed private equity offering in Latin American telecom history, the largest ever in the history of Colorado, and the fourth-largest in United States history. This round of financing brings VeloCom's total equity capitalization to $365 million. Lead investors in the placement include existing VeloCom shareholders: Telecom Partners, Centennial Funds, Crescendo Ventures, SLI S.A. and Formus Communications International; as well as new investors: Banc of America Equity Partners Latin America, Mellon Ventures, GCC Investments and First Union Capital Partners. Also taking part in the placement are QUALCOMM Inc. (a VeloCom strategic partner in Brazil), Toronto Dominion Capital, Dolphin Communications Fund, Northwood Ventures, CRI Media Partners, Janco Capital Management and Brad Peery Capital. The private placement was led by Lehman Brothers, and co-managed by TD Securities and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation. ''The response to our equity offering was very positive, and it was gratifying to see the capital market's endorsement of our business plans,'' said David Leonard, CEO and president of VeloCom. ''We have grown rapidly in Latin America, and these funds will be used to build out our broadband networks in Brazil and Argentina. We are pursuing significant opportunities to satisfy the huge demand for voice, data, video and Internet services in the region.'' ''VeloCom has shown tremendous achievement in a relatively short time frame,'' said Bill Elsner of Telecom Partners, a founding shareholder. ''We are pleased to be able to increase our investment in VeloCom, and have the highest faith in the business opportunity and the management team.'' ''We didn't hesitate to partner with a company that has the level of management expertise found in VeloCom,'' said Jacques Gliksberg, managing director for Banc of America Equity Partners Latin America. ''The opportunities that exist in the Latin American broadband telecom market are very attractive, and we know that VeloCom is strategically positioned to fully leverage these opportunities.'' The company is partnered with Bell Canada International Inc. (BCI) and QUALCOMM Inc. in two facilities-based competitive local exchange carriers in Brazil that provide service under the brand name Vesper. BCI is the operating partner in Vesper. In the past few months, VeloCom has increased its market presence beyond Brazil to Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Uruguay through the acquisition of the Latin American assets of broadband wireless access providers Formus Communications International, Argentina-based SLI Wireless SA and Brazil-based Taquari Participacoes SA. About VeloCom Inc. Denver-based VeloCom is emerging as a leading provider of competitive voice, data and Internet services in key markets in Latin America. Privately held, VeloCom was formed in June 1998 under the name WLL International Inc. Fred Vierra, chairman; David Leonard, CEO and president; and Nick Kauser, acting chief technical officer, lead VeloCom (www.velocom.com). Contact: