Cowen Group and LaBranche & Co Merger Consummated

NEW YORK, Jun 29, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) —

Cowen Group, Inc. (“Cowen”) (NASDAQ: COWN) and LaBranche & Co Inc.
(“LaBranche”) (NYSE: LAB) today announced that all requisite regulatory
approvals have been received and the merger between the companies was
consummated pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement after the
market close on June 28, 2011. The combined company will continue as
Cowen Group, Inc. and trade under the ticker symbol “COWN” on the NASDAQ
Stock Market. As of the close of market on June 28, LaBranche stock was
delisted and will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

“We are very pleased to close this transaction and on behalf of all of
my colleagues, I welcome LaBranche’s employees, clients and all its
constituents to Cowen,” commented Peter Cohen, Cowen’s Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer. “Through the transaction, I believe the
combined company should be able to accelerate its sector-focused sales
and trading business growth plans in the area of electronic trading,
broaden its global opportunities, and better utilize its balance sheet
to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns via strategic and
opportunistic investments in new businesses and professionals across the
organization. We will start the integration process immediately and I
expect it will proceed expeditiously.”

Pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement, Cowen acquired LaBranche
in a stock-for-stock merger transaction. LaBranche shareholders received
a fixed ratio of 0.9980 of a share of Cowen Class A common stock for
each outstanding share of LaBranche common stock. The total Cowen shares
issued to LaBranche shareholders represent approximately 35 percent of
the combined company shares outstanding after the transaction close.

About Cowen Group, Inc.

Cowen Group, Inc. is a diversified financial services firm and, together
with its consolidated subsidiaries, provides alternative investment
management, investment banking, research, and sales and trading services
through its two business segments: Ramius and its affiliates makes up
the Company’s alternative investment management segment, while Cowen and
Company is its broker-dealer segment. Its alternative investment
management products, solutions and services include hedge funds,
replication products, managed futures funds, fund of funds, real estate,
health care royalty funds and cash management services. Cowen and
Company offers industry focused investment banking for growth-oriented
companies, domain knowledge-driven research and a sales and trading
platform for institutional investors. Founded in 1918, the firm is
headquartered in New York and has offices located in major financial
centers around the world.

Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This communication may contain forward-looking statements, as defined in
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including
statements relating to the market opportunity and future business
prospects of the combined company. Such statements are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking
statements. Consequently, all forward-looking statements made during
this communication are qualified by those risks, uncertainties and other
factors.

These factors include, but are not limited to, (1) the ability to
recognize the anticipated benefits of the combination of Cowen and
LaBranche, including potential cost savings; and (2) the possibility
that the combined company may be adversely affected by other economic,
business, and/or competitive factors.

Actual results may differ materially and reported results should not be
considered an indication of future performance. Please reference the SEC
filings of LaBranche and Cowen, which are available on their respective
web sites, for detailed descriptions of factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such
forward-looking statements.

Additional information concerning these and other risk factors is
contained in the joint proxy statement/prospectus, as well as
LaBranche’s and Cowen’s most recently filed Annual Reports on Form 10-K
and Form 10-K/A, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent
Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other SEC filings, as such filings may
be amended from time to time. Except for the ongoing obligations of
LaBranche and Cowen to disclose material information under the federal
securities laws, neither LaBranche nor Cowen undertakes any obligation
to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements, to report
events or to report the occurrence of unanticipated events unless
required by law.

SOURCE: Cowen Group, Inc.

Cowen Group, Inc.
Peter Poillon, 646-562-1983
Head of Investor Relations / Corporate Communications