Deal Further Expands Knight's Institutional Presence and Capabilities

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Knight/Trimark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NITE), the largest wholesale market maker in U.S. equity securities, announced today that Knight Securities has acquired certain additional U.S. equity dealer assets from D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P., complementing those acquired by Trimark Securities in December 1998.

This transaction, like the one in 1998, relates to D. E. Shaw's activities as a provider of liquidity in U.S. equities. Whereas the earlier deal related to the execution of individual orders for such securities in the Third Market on behalf of retail brokerage firms, the current transaction relates to the trading of whole portfolios of such securities on behalf of institutional customers. The sale announced today will mark the completion of D. E. Shaw's divestiture of its conventional equity dealing activities in favor of an increased focus on its electronic trading, investment management, and technology venture financing activities.

"Our institutional business is an area that we have targeted for growth," said Kenneth D. Pasternak, the president and chief executive officer of Knight/Trimark Group. "We are having success in this endeavor, as evidenced by the fact that higher margin institutional order flow totaled $78 million or 31% of our overall fourth quarter 1999 trading revenues, up from 19% of total trading revenues in the fourth quarter 1998. The U.S. equity dealer assets that we have acquired from D. E. Shaw will further enhance our ability to provide best execution solutions for our growing base of institutional customers."

Knight/Trimark, headquartered in Jersey City, NJ, is the parent company of Knight Securities, Trimark Securities and Arbitrade Holdings. Knight's subsidiaries make markets in equity securities listed on Nasdaq, the OTCBB of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and American Stock Exchange (Amex); and in options on individual equities, equity indices, fixed income instruments and certain commodities in the U.S. and Europe. The firm also maintains an asset management business for institutional investors and high net worth individuals through Arbitrade's Deephaven subsidiary. As the number one destination for online trade executions, Knight is the processing power behind the explosive growth in securities trading via the Internet. The firm was recently selected to Fortune's "e-50 Stock Index," an elite collection of companies that are shaping the new Internet-based economy. Currently, the four-year-old company employs more than 800 people worldwide with offices in Jersey City, NJ; Jericho, White Plains, Purchase and New York, NY; Chicago, IL; Boston, MA; Minnetonka, MN; Santa Clara, CA and London, England.

SOURCE Knight/Trimark Group, Inc.

CONTACT: Margaret Wyrwas, Vice President, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations of Knight Trimark, 201-557-6954, mwyrwas@knight-sec.com; Nicholas Gianakouros, Senior Vice President of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P., 212-478-0276; or Chuck Dohrenwend of Edelman Worldwide, 212-704-8102, for Knight Trimark/