Eddie Bauer

Eddie Bauer Holdings, Inc. (the "Company") (NASDAQ:EBHI) announced today that it is soliciting consent (the "Consent") from the holders (the "Holders") of its 5.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2014 (the "Notes") to an extension from January 4, 2009 to no later than January 1, 2012 of the current limitation contained in its Certificate of Incorporation on direct or indirect ownership of its common stock or other equity securities more particularly described below (the "Ownership Limitation"). An extension would involve an amendment (the "Amendment") to the indenture (the "Indenture") for the Notes, which would require the written consent of the Holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding Notes, and an amendment (the "Charter Modification") to the Company's Certificate of Incorporation, which would require the approval of a majority of its outstanding common stock. Holders of the Notes are referred to the detailed terms and conditions of the consent solicitation in the Consent Solicitation Statement dated September 5, 2008, and the accompanying Letter of Consent, which are being sent to the Holders.

FBR Capital Markets Corporation Appointments

FBR Capital Markets Corporation (NASDAQ:FBCM) (FBR Capital Markets), a leading investment bank serving the middle market, announced today that its new Convertible Securities unit has commenced trading convertible and equity-linked securities. The firm also announced the addition of Robert Meringolo and Thomas Sugiura as Managing Directors, Adam Wachter and John Wright as Senior Vice Presidents, and Charles Ng and Ronald K. Schulhof as Vice Presidents on the Convertible Securities Sales & Trading team. They will report to Michael Lloyd, Senior Managing Director and Head of Convertible Securities in Sales & Trading, who co-heads the unit with Paul S. Rosica, Senior Managing Director and Head of Equity- Linked Securities in Investment Banking.

"Today we officially launched our Convertible Securities platform and have begun trading equity-linked securities," said Richard J. Hendrix, President and Chief Operating Officer of FBR Capital Markets. "The addition of the Convertible Securities unit to our equity capital markets franchise is an important step in the evolution and growth of FBR Capital Markets. This new business will provide clients access to additional capital options and will complement our existing business lines."

Mr. Sugiura also joins FBR Capital Markets from Bear Stearns where he, too, served as a Senior Managing Director on its Convertible Securities trading team. During his time at Bear Stearns, Mr. Sugiura made markets in a variety of convertible instruments and managed a structured convertible book which included client-facing synthetic convertible issuance. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University in English and American literature and language and received an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
Mr. Wachter joins the FBR Capital Markets Convertible Securities unit most recently from Morgan Stanley, where he spent seven years in various senior trading positions in both customer- facing and principal businesses. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he was a convertible trader at Kennilworth Partners, an equity-linked hedge fund. Mr. Wachter received a Bachelor of Arts in finance from The George Washington University and an MBA from the Fordham University Graduate School of Business Administration.