2013 2012: A Big Year for Deals 2012 2012 Shaping up as a Good Deal Year 2011 Aethlon Capital Names Jay Novak as an Advisor Sima Griffith Comments on M&A Activity at the Faegre & Benson M&A Conference 2010 Aethlon Capital Cautiously Optimistic Aethlon Capital Completes Equity Offering for Coolibar, Inc. 2009 New Geotek owner plans on expanding 2008 Granite City Food & Brewery Enters Into Long-Term Development Agreement After two PIPEs, Aethlon links Granite City with United Properties Shoreview firm gets $6 million capital infusion 2007 Step Ahead Give & Take Going Once Going Twice Diana Project Helps women's hunt for capital Novel Idea 2006 Minneapolis Foundation Names New Trustees 3rd Annual Minnesota Cup Keeping Control 2005 Looking For Angels 2004 VCs predict boost in funds tied to increased deal flow Entrepreneur of the year finalists Pitch Reference Guide 2002 Pub chain to double size, backed by $5.6M financing Business Journal honors leading Twin Cities businesswomen 2001 Aethlon Capital Helped to Keep Cirrus Flying High

Sima Griffith Comments on M&A Activity at the Faegre & Benson M&A Conference

On October 11th, Aethlon Capital's Sima Griffith participated in a panel discussion at Faegre & Benson's M&A Conference in Minneapolis. Some highlights of her remarks appear below: How has recent M&A deal flow been? M&A activity has been strong throughout 2011, because of a favorable, low-interest-rate debt market, and because both private equity funds and large companies have a lot of cash to invest. Strategic and financial buyers have both been active this year. Private equity funds have billions of dollars that they need to put to work, and they are actively competing for deals--which often results in bidding wars pushing up valuations. Meanwhile, strategic buyers have been very active. Many companies have a surplus of cash on their balance sheets, but are finding it hard to grow organically in this anemic recovery, so they are actively looking for acquisitions. Who is selling in 2011? Industries that have seen lot of activity include financial services, energy, technology, manufacturing, and consumer products. Because valuations are up, many companies are selling divisions not core to their business. Unilever, for example, sold its Alberto VO5® brand to Brynwood Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm specializing in acquiring corporate orphans in the consumer products category. The oil boom in North Dakota has fueled M&A activity for oil and gas companies doing business there. North Dakota was recently called the next Saudia Arabia by the Wall Street Journal because the gigantic and prolific Bakken oil fields now place the United States third among world oil producers. How have valuations rebounded? Valuations have rebounded from the lows of 2009 and are slightly higher than 2010. Data show that deals under of less than $50 million are back to 2007 multiples. We are, however, still seeing some pricing differentials; sellers whose companies are healthy and highly profitable want top dollar, while buyers are offering less because of the economic and financial challenges they are facing. What industries do you see as having the brightest M&A future? In my view, social media, data storage, consumer products, and energy—including companies that serve the oil and gas industry. A great example of deal activity in the internet media industry is Groupon, which made 13 acquisitions last year. In energy, we met last week with a private equity firm that owns a maker of x-ray products to test pipelines. They were actively looking for add-on acquisitions. Aethlon also met with an investor that is actively buying North Dakota convenience stores—places in which oil field workers are buying their breakfast, lunch and beer after work.