Cowen Group Establishes Cowen Finance

Business Will Focus on Originating and Syndicating Mid-Market
Corporate Loans

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep. 29, 2014–
Building upon Cowen and Company’s success in developing a debt capital
markets effort focused on emerging growth companies, Cowen Group, Inc.
(“Cowen”) (NASDAQ: COWN), parent company of Cowen and Company, today
announced that it has formed Cowen Finance, a commercial finance
company. Cowen currently expects to make an initial equity investment of
up to $125 million in Cowen Finance, with this investment funded by
Cowen over time. Cowen Finance will work together with Cowen and
Company’s investment banking and debt capital markets businesses to
originate, syndicate and utilize Cowen’s capital to provide a broad
range of credit solutions to the firm’s corporate clients.

Peter A. Cohen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cowen Group,
said, “Our move into direct lending is a natural extension of our
success at providing clients with debt capital markets financing advice
over the past few years. As investment professionals, we have a long
history of investing our balance sheet where we see attractive returns
on capital from driving growth in our operating businesses.”

Jeffrey M. Solomon, President of Cowen Group, said, “Given the
diminished lending appetite by traditional banks into the middle market,
companies and financial sponsors have expressed their need for a broader
range of lending solutions. With the launching of Cowen Finance, we have
a unique opportunity to meet this need by partnering with our investment
banking and capital markets division to provide additional financing
solutions to our clients.”

Cowen Finance’s lending and risk activities will be managed separately
from the investment bank as a wholly owned subsidiary of Cowen Group.

About Cowen Group, Inc.

Cowen Group, Inc. is a diversified financial services firm and, together
with its consolidated subsidiaries, provides alternative asset
management, investment banking, research, and sales and trading services
through its two business segments: Ramius and its affiliates make up the
Company’s alternative investment segment, while Cowen and Company and
its affiliates make up the Company’s broker-dealer segment. Ramius
provides alternative asset management solutions to a global client base
and manages a significant portion of Cowen’s proprietary capital. Cowen
and Company and its affiliates offer 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 worldwide.

Source: Cowen Group, Inc.

Media:
Sard Verbinnen & Co
Dan Gagnier/Carissa
Felger
212-687-8080