Great American Group and Kelly Capital Form New Venture To Sell Foreclosed Homes.

New Company Will Conduct Both Live and Online Auctions

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (February 2, 2009) – Great American Group, one of the nation’s largest auction, liquidation, and asset disposition firms, and Kelly Capital, a diversified private investment firm specializing in real estate asset management, announced today that they are partnering to form a new business venture that will sell foreclosed homes throughout the United States. The new venture will be called Great American Home Auctions, L.L.C. (GAHA).

The announcement, made jointly by Andrew Gumaer, chief executive officer of Great American Group, and Michael Kelly, chief executive officer of Kelly Capital, said that GAHA will provide buyers with access to a large inventory of unsold residential properties in the U.S. through both live and online auctions. The company’s first auction is expected to be held this spring.

“Over the past year, we have witnessed a steady decline in housing markets across the country, with U.S. home foreclosures hitting record levels,” said Gumaer. “With recovery in the housing sector not expected to occur until late 2009 or beyond and foreclosure activity continuing at a high level, it is an opportune time for Great American and Kelly Capital to be establishing this new venture.

“While we fully understand and appreciate the difficulties that many homeowners are currently facing due to the subprime mortgage crisis, the intent of GAHA is to provide exceptional buying opportunities to those consumers who previously could not afford homes,” Gumaer noted. “Through our auctions, first-time homebuyers as well as trade-up purchasers will be able to buy single-family homes, townhouses and condos at greatly reduced prices.”

We believe that Great American Home Auctions will help streamline the home-buying process for thousands of Americans, while providing holders of home REO equity with a means of disposing of those assets quickly and efficiently to a large group of qualified buyers interested in those homes,” added Kelly. “Consumers will be able to purchase homes at affordable prices through a simplified online purchase process or in person at one of our scheduled auction events. They also will have access to properties which they might not have been aware of before.”

Kelly noted that GAHA will work with banks and other financial institutions, investment groups, hedge funds, developers, government agencies, asset managers and loan servicers around the country in identifying foreclosed homes for auction. The company also will interface with real estate brokers and agents to assist their clients in purchasing bank-owned homes.

U.S. foreclosure auctions began over a century ago and are becoming more common, particularly in difficult economic times like today, Gumaer explained. Among the states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis, he said, are California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada and added that foreclosures in those regions have helped drive the national trend.

GAHA will conduct home auctions nationwide, Gumaer said, with the number and frequency to be determined by the supply and demand of each market. Properties for sale will be in all sizes, styles and prices. Buyers will be able to register in advance online, or they can attend and present bids in person at the live auction.

Inventories of all available homes will be posted on GAHA’s website at www.greatamericanhomeauctions.com in advance of the auctions, as well as via links from here at Great American’s website and Kelly Capital’s website at www.kellycapital.com. Prospective buyers, including real estate agents and brokers, will be able to obtain detailed information on the individual homes being auctioned by visiting GAHA’s website. Flyers and informational literature on the properties also will be available by mail or online by contacting either Great American or Kelly Capital direct. Both companies plan to promote the auction sales through advertisements in local media, as well as through online channels.

The new venture brings together two major firms with decades of expertise in both auction sales and real estate asset management. Founded in 1973, Great American Group has established a leading reputation for retail and industrial auctions, liquidations and appraisals. The firm has worked in a variety of industries, ranging from consumer products, apparel, food and beverage, and healthcare to automotive, metalworking, and engineering and construction. Assets auctioned for clients have also included real estate holdings.

Great American Group’s clients have included Tower Records, FAO Schwarz, Kmart, Mervyns, Office Max, Midas International, Spiegel, Apple Computer, Black and Decker Tools, Marine Pipeline and Wards. Headquartered in Woodland Hills, Calif., Great American has conducted thousands of auctions with a book value of inventory exceeding $55 billion.

In addition to its suburban Los Angeles headquarters in Woodland Hills, Calif., Great American Group has offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, and San Francisco.

Kelly Capital was founded in 1993 and, over a span of more than 15 years, has established a strong track record in the acquisition and disposition of commercial and residential real estate mortgages, real estate, other debt instruments and operating companies. In addition, the company has proven expertise in the management of real estate-based asset pools. Since its founding, it has completed more than $3 billion in transactions as principal investors, in performing and non-performing loan trades, real estate and company acquisitions.

Kelly Capital also has conducted major rehabilitations of existing real estate assets in a variety of property types, resulting in repositioning of assets, and has performed ground-up construction projects. The diverse nature and national scope of its real estate holdings reflect the broad nature of its experience. It has developed and/or owned more than 400 residential units and managed the sale of more than 4 million square feet of commercial real estate. At present, it owns more than 500,000 square feet of commercial real estate, including The Ivy Hotel in downtown San Diego.

Kelly Capital’s historical focus on the acquisition of real estate debt and REOs from banks, S&Ls, life insurance companies, REITs, hedge funds and private lenders across the country, encompassing both performing and non-performing loan categories, has enhanced Kelly Capital’s reputation as principals in the secondary real estate market. In the past, it has also dealt with governmental agencies such as the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and state insurance commissioners in the acquisition of real estate loan assets.

Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Kelly Capital also has offices in Dallas and Nashville.