AIC Arlington Asset Investment Corp

FBR Closes $297.5 Million Public Offering for Aames Investment Corporation 35 Million Common Shares Placed ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. (NYSE:FBR) today announced that its subsidiary, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., Inc., has closed a $297.5 million public offering for Aames Investment Corporation (NYSE:AIC), a mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT). The transaction involved the offering of 35 million common shares priced at $8.50 per share. Aames Investment Corporation has granted the underwriters the option to purchase 5.25 million additional shares of common stock to cover over- allotments. Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., Inc. served as sole book- running manager for the offering. Credit Suisse First Boston and Flagstone Securities, Inc. acted as co-managers. Concurrent with the close of the public offering, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. closed on its previously announced purchase of five million shares of Aames Investment Corporation in a private placement transaction. The shares were purchased at a price of $8.50 per share less certain discounts, for aggregate proceeds of $39.5 million. "The success of this offering shows that there are opportunities for well- structured lending companies to access the financial markets. This capital will serve Aames and the borrowers who rely on the company for critical financing needs," said Emanuel Friedman, Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of FBR. "We are pleased to have assisted Aames with this transaction." Aames Investment Corporation is a mortgage real estate investment trust, providing first and second mortgage products to sub-prime borrowers nationwide through its operating subsidiary, Aames Financial Corporation, a 50-year old sub-prime lender. To find out more about Aames Investment, please visit http://www.aames.net/. Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. provides investment banking*, institutional brokerage*, asset management, and private client services through its operating subsidiaries and invests in mortgage-backed securities and merchant banking opportunities. FBR focuses capital and financial expertise on eight industry sectors: consumer, diversified industrials, energy, financial institutions, healthcare, insurance, real estate, and technology, media and telecommunications. FBR, headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, with offices in Arlington, Va. and Bethesda, Md., also has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Irvine, London, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vienna. For more information, please see http://www.fbr.com/. *Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., Inc. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. DATASOURCE: Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. CONTACT: Bill Dixon, +1-703-469-1092, or , for Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. Web site: http://www.fbr.com/ http://www.aames.net/

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