Washington, DC (May 13, 2008) – FOCUS LLC, a national middle market investment banking firm providing merger, acquisition, divestiture and corporate finance services, announces that Robert A. Wagner has joined the Los Angeles office as a Managing Director.

“With more than 30 years of international M&A experience on both the corporate and service side, Bob will be a tremendous asset to the West Coast team,” said Paul Richey, managing director of FOCUS’ Southwestern region. “Bob’s extensive experience in corporate development, strategic planning and mergers & acquisitions, particularly in the manufacturing sector, will be a wonderful addition to FOCUS.”

Wagner joins FOCUS from Janas Associates, a boutique investment banking firm in Pasadena, CA where he was most recently a Managing Director. He also founded Wagner & Associates, LLC, a corporate development advisory firm that specialized in buy-side support for the middle-market.

Prior to Wagner & Associates, he served as Senior Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions at Leggett & Platt, a Fortune 500 diversified manufacturer of engineered components and products. During his time at Leggett & Platt, his M&A team completed ninety-five acquisitions and eight divestitures adding over $1.5 billion in revenues. Wagner led efforts to establish a more effective acquisition integration program, directed the annual FAS 142 goodwill impairment valuation analysis, and regularly conducted special studies and strategic projects in support of Leggett’s multiple growth initiatives.

Previously, Wagner worked for Graco Inc., an S&P mid-cap manufacturer of fluid handling systems and equipment. Wagner joined Graco as Vice President of Corporate Development and later served as Treasurer. He also lived in Yokohama Japan for three years, working as Vice President, Asia Pacific and President of Graco KK. Wagner also worked for Texas Instruments as Vice President Corporate Development and Diamond Shamrock International Petroleum as Vice President of Development & Planning. He began his career at Booz Allen & Hamilton working in its Acquisition Services Group.

Wagner earned a BS with honors in Finance from the University of Illinois, an MBA in Finance and Econometrics from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago, and is an active member of the Association for Corporate Growth and the Association for Strategic Planning.

For more information about the international M&A trend and others that FOCUS predicts will shape the middle market, download a free copy of the “2008 Middle Market M&A Forecast” at www.focusbankers.com.

About FOCUS LLC

FOCUS LLC provides a range of middle market investment banking services with an emphasis on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and corporate finance. FOCUS is headquartered in Washington, D.C. with regional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. FOCUS specializes in business units with transactions or revenues in the $5-300 million range, serving entrepreneurs, corporate owners and various types of investors across a broad range of industries, throughout the U.S. and worldwide. FOCUS bankers are seasoned operating and financial executives with extensive transaction experience. Securities transactions conducted by Wm. H. Murphy & Co., Inc. registered Broker Dealer member FINRA/SIPC. For more information on FOCUS, visit www.focusbankers.com.

Kahla Cooper is the Director of Marketing at FOCUS. In this role, Ms. Cooper designs and implements the overall marketing strategy. Ms. Cooper works with each industry team leader to define programs in order to promote and brand FOCUS’ suite of capabilities.