Paris, 7 January 200

Christian Claussen, has more than 10 years of venture capital experience in Germany, and on 1 January 2009 joined Crédit Agricole Private Equity as a Senior Partner in the venture capital team. His arrival will maintain the team's development in Europe, and will enable it to take advantage of investment opportunities in Germany and Northern Europe.

Christian Claussen is 44 years old, originates from Germany and has studied communication systems engineering at several European universities. He is a graduate of Ecole Supérieure d'Ingénieurs en Electronique et Electrotechnique (France), the University of Essex (UK) and the University of Karlsruhe (Germany).

He started his career in 1990 at Siemens in Munich within the Communication Networks unit, part of the Optical Transmission Networks division in the R&D department. In 1994, ha was appointed Product Marketing Director, then Vice President Business Development in 1997. He initiated and led the taskforce that designed the blueprint for Mustang Ventures, Siemens Communications' corporate venture fund.

In 1998, he joined the investment team at TVM Capital, one of Germany's most active venture capital funds, and was promoted General Partner in 1999. He specialises in communications, semiconductors, internet and software.

Antoine Colboc, head of Crédit Agricole Private Equity's Venture Capital business comments: "We are confident that the German market has untapped potential for venture capital investments that we will develop with Christian Claussen. He is a venture capital professional who has great experience, which is vital in this business, particularly in the current situation."

Crédit Agricole Private Equity is a major player in financing innovative SMEs. With €375 million under management, mainly in the form of FCPI innovation funds, the Venture Capital team invests in young companies with strong growth potential in the information technologies and life sciences sectors.

The Venture Capital team is one of Europe's most active, and now consists of 12 investment professionals.

Contact
Martine Sessin-Caracci - +33 1 43 23 90 88
martine.sessincaracci@ca-privateequity.fr

Photo available from Crédit Agricole Private Equity

About Crédit Agricole Private Equity
Crédit Agricole Private Equity, an AMF-authorised investment management company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Crédit Agricole S.A., specializes in direct private equity investment in unlisted companies.
A multi-specialist, Crédit Agricole Private Equity has 50 investment teams focusing on different segments of the private equity market (Expansion & Buyout capital, Venture Capital, Mezzanine, Renewable Energy, PPP Infrastructure, Co-Investment and Special Situations) and manages a total of €2.8 billion in various types of private equity vehicle (FCPR, SICAR, FCPI and SCR). Crédit Agricole Private Equity supports entrepreneurs in their growth projects.

www.ca-privateequity.com