AACC Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. (MM)

William Blair & Company Initiates Coverage of Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. With Outperform Rating CHICAGO, March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- William Blair & Company today announced that it initiated research coverage of Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. , a leading purchaser and collector of charged-off consumer debts in the United States, with an Outperform rating and company profile of Core Growth. Analysts Joe LaManna and John Neff estimated that the company, which has developed purchase and collection expertise across a wide range of consumer debts at different stages of delinquency, would earn $1.08 per share in 2004 and $1.27 per share in 2005. "We believe Asset Acceptance is well positioned in the collection industry, which has experienced stronggrowth as a result of rising consumer debt, increasing charge-offs, and new sellers of charged-off portfolios," LaManna said. "The company is an industry pioneer, it purchases and collects a wide variety of consumer debts, and it has demonstrated expertise in legal collections." William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a Chicago-based investment firm offering investment banking, asset management, equity research, institutional and private brokerage, and private capital to individual, institutional, and issuing clients. Since 1935, we have been committed to helping clients achieve their financial objectives. As an independent, employee-owned firm, our philosophy is to serve our clients' interests first and foremost. William Blair & Company has offices in Chicago, Hartford, London, San Francisco, Tokyo, Vaduz, and Zurich. For more information, please visit http://www.williamblair.com/ . William Blair & Company, L.L.C. has received compensation for investment banking services from the company within the past 12 months, or expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services in the next 3 months. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. was a manager or co-manager of a public offering of equity securities within the prior 12 months. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a market maker in the security of this company and may have a long or short position. For important disclosures and information regarding the firm's rating system, valuation methods and potential conflicts of interest, please visit: http://www.williamblair.com/pages/news_story.asp?uid=636 . Additional information is available upon request. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, CRD number 1252. DATASOURCE: William Blair & Company, L.L.C. CONTACT: Tony Zimmer of William Blair & Company, L.L.C., +1-312-364-8611, Web site: http://www.williamblair.com/pages/news_story.asp?uid=636 http://www.williamblair.com/

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