AltaCorp Capital Announces Significant Hire And Newly Created Initiative

Financial advisory firm lands new head of Debt Capital Markets

CALGARY AND TORONTO, March 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - AltaCorp Capital Inc. (AltaCorp), Canada's newest institutional financial advisory firm, today announced the hire of Jason Caldarelli. Caldarelli will lead the firm's Debt Capital Markets group as Managing Director and will be based out of AltaCorp's Toronto office.  He will report directly to George Gosbee, Chairman, President and CEO.

Prior to joining AltaCorp, Caldarelli was Managing Director, Leverage Finance in New York with Oppenheimer & Co., having moved over from CIBC World Markets after the sale of their U.S. investment banking business. Caldarelli began his career at CIBC, assuming various roles in corporate banking, mergers and acquisitions, private placements, sales and trading and debt capital markets. "Jason represents a critical addition to our team as we increase our focus and expand our capabilities in the Debt Capital Markets," said George Gosbee, President and CEO, AltaCorp Capital Inc. "This hire reinforces AltaCorp's goal of growing into a top financial advisory firm in Canada by attracting the industry's best financial experts."

Within the last year, AltaCorp Capital has hired more than 30 people in both Calgary and Toronto, highlighting the firm's strategic expansion plans. For more information, please visit www.altacorpcapital.com.

About AltaCorp Capital Inc.

AltaCorp Capital Inc. is Canada's newest institutional financial advisory firm. AltaCorp offers a full spectrum of value-added financial and advisory services to corporations in varied stages of development, including Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions; Equity and Debt Financing; Asset Acquisitions & Divestitures; Institutional Sales & Trading; and Institutional Equity Research. AltaCorp is in a strategic relationship with ATB Financial (ATB), a full-service financial institution headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. ATB is the largest Alberta-based financial institution, with assets over $26.5 billion and 5,000 Associates across the province. AltaCorp focuses on the key drivers of the Western Canadian economy and the overlapping subsectors of Energy, Agri-Industry, and Diversified Industries. Together, AltaCorp and ATB Financial provide clients full service solutions for all their corporate finance and advisory needs. AltaCorp Capital Inc. is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. For more information, visit www.altacorpcapital.com.

SOURCE AltaCorp Capital Inc.