The Gates Group, LLC and Babcock & Brown Announce Parking Joint Venture

CLEVELAND, Ohio — November 8, 2006 — The Gates Group, LLC and international investment and advisory firm Babcock & Brown (the "Sponsors") announce the formation of a joint venture entity, Babcock & Brown Gates Parking Investments, LLC ("BBGPI") to acquire parking management businesses throughout North America. BBGPI will source equity and debt capital from two private investment partnerships formed and managed by the Sponsors, Parking Management Fund II, LP and Babcock & Brown Parking Management Fund, LP.

Coinciding with the establishment of the joint venture, BBGPI today announced its first investment with Babcock & Brown and its affiliated funds contributing debt and equity capital to a recapitalization of Imperial Parking Corporation ("Impark"), the largest parking operator in Canada and one of the three largest in North America. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Walter Stuelpe, Managing Partner of Gates said "the joint venture with Babcock & Brown establishes a dedicated investment vehicle with the financial capacity to support our acquisition strategies in the North American parking industry."

Babcock & Brown Vice President Anthony Mosse said "Babcock & Brown has been analyzing the parking industry for some time and believes that its joint venture with Gates and Impark as an operating platform for future acquisitions represents an exciting step for the company."

Impark, headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada currently leases or manages in excess of 1,900 parking locations consisting of in excess of 480,000 parking spaces in over 30 markets throughout Canada and the United States.

Mr. Stuelpe said "over the last two years, Impark has successfully completed a comprehensive strategic and operational transformation and is well positioned to take full advantage of the prevailing market conditions to drive sustainable, long term value for its clients and shareholders alike."


About The Gates Group

Founded in 2002, The Gates Group, LLC is a Cleveland, Ohio-based private equity firm that makes control investments in businesses and real estate serving the North American parking and transportation industries.

About Babcock & Brown

Babcock & Brown is a global investment and advisory firm with longstanding capabilities in structured finance and the creation, syndication and management of asset and cash flow-based investments. Babcock & Brown was founded in 1977, and is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Babcock & Brown operates from 23 offices across Australia, North America, Europe, Asia, United Arab Emirates and Africa and has in excess of 810 employees worldwide. Babcock & Brown has five operating divisions including real estate, infrastructure and project finance, operating leasing, structured finance and corporate finance. The company has established a funds management platform across the operating divisions that have resulted in the establishment of a number of focused investment vehicles in areas including real estate, renewable energy and infrastructure.

For additional information, please contact:
The Gates Group, LLC:
Walter Stuelpe or Mike de Windt
440.684.9900

Babcock & Brown, LP:
Anthony Mosse or Bob Falkenberg
415.512.1515