Fifth Third Bancorp, Advent International Partner for Processing

"Advent has a long and impressive record of investing in and growing payment processing companies to achieve exceptional results, and we believe that its investment will significantly enhance the ability of our processing business to generate even stronger results in the future," said Kevin T. Kabat, Chairman, President and CEO of Fifth Third Bancorp. "Partnering with Advent will provide the processing business with access to additional capital and resources that we believe will create significant new opportunities and incremental growth in that business. At the same time, our ability to offer the best-in-class capabilities of Fifth Third Processing Solutions to our banking customers will continue to be a key entry point for us in creating new relationships and in expanding existing relationships."

"This transaction represents the culmination of work we began last summer as part of our capital plan announced in June. It is expected to generate meaningful additions to our tangible common equity and Tier 1 capital ratios, reflecting the value of the business as a whole, while at the same time enabling us to retain significant ownership in the joint venture and its ongoing creation of value. The cash proceeds represent 13 times the earnings divested. And the valuation of the business, at 3.3 times 2008 net revenue, compares favorably with large publicly-traded processing businesses. The expected equity and capital contribution reflects not only the economic value of the interest being sold, but also the economic value of our remaining interest in the business. As a result, this transaction represents a highly efficient source of capital for our shareholders relative to capital alternatives in the current environment."

"The transaction significantly enhances the level and composition of our already very strong regulatory capital position. We believe our strengthened capital position, in combination with our strong credit reserves and earnings power, provide us with the resources and the ability to withstand a more difficult economic environment should that occur."

"We are excited to enter into this partnership with Fifth Third," said David Mussafer, Managing Partner of Advent. "We have long viewed Fifth Third Processing Solutions as the premier processor for merchants and financial institutions in the U.S., and we look forward to working with Fifth Third and the management team of the processing business to continue the impressive growth of the business. We are excited about opportunities to make further investments in this business, and we expect to leverage our international infrastructure and work with Fifth Third Processing Solutions to expand outside the U.S."

"We are pleased to welcome Advent as a partner and investor in our processing business," said Charles Drucker, President of Fifth Third Processing Solutions, who will be CEO of the new joint venture company. "Over the years, we have successfully built our processing business into one of the country's leading providers of payment processing services. Advent's worldwide set of portfolio companies in financial services and payments processing provides Fifth Third Processing Solutions with new opportunities to partner internationally. The technology focus and operational expertise of Advent and its partners will provide us with significant opportunities to enhance the wide range of products and services that we offer to clients."

"Our customers and employees should expect a smooth transition. Our industry-leading platform will remain in place, so our clients will not experience a system conversion, and our clients will continue to be served by the same people from Fifth Third Processing Solutions in the same locations. We look forward to working with the Advent team to grow the business going forward."

"As a processor, Fifth Third Processing Solutions has tremendous scale in both of its core businesses, merchant acquiring and debit/ATM processing," said Chris Pike, Managing Director of Advent. "Working with our operating partner, Pam Patsley, we had identified Fifth Third Processing Solutions early on as the premier company in the payment processing space. We worked closely with Fifth Third to structure a transaction and a partnership that met our mutual objectives in a difficult environment, and to position the business for accelerated growth over this next exciting period. Patsley is the former President of First Data International, where she was responsible for all of the company's business outside of the U.S. from 2002 to 2007."