FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BANORTE AND NVST REACH AGREEMENT ON STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP TO PROMOTE VENTURE CAPITAL, PRIVATE EQUITY AND M&A INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN MEXICO

SEATTLE, Washington / MEXICO CITY, Mexico - June 21, 2001 - Grupo Financiero Banorte, Mexico's fifth largest financial group, and NVST, the leading online intermediary for the worldwide private equity and venture finance community announced today a major strategic partnership. The two firms will collaborate to bring advanced technology services, research data, and actual deal flow to Mexico's emerging private equity marketplace. Grupo Financiero Banorte and NVST are developing a bi-lingual host site to serve Mexico's professional investors, advisors, and business owners, expected to launch in 3rd quarter, 2001.

Initially, the joint venture will seek to expose wealthy, experienced Mexican investors and advisors to the broad range of private equity investment activity across U.S. markets. Eventually, however, it is expected that much more of the partnership's focus will shift to the growing volume and size of venture investment and acquisition opportunities within Mexico itself.

"After months of analysis at BANORTE, we have reached the conclusion that the fastest and most productive way to become a recognized Internet portal website for all transactions related to Private Equity Investments and M&A transactions was to create an alliance with a dynamic and agile company such as NVST. In this manner, we are able to leverage on our transactional expertise and keep our commitment to offer the most advanced services to our clients," said Jorge Altschuler, CEO of Casa de Bolsa Banorte.

NVST's combination of content and technology together with BANORTE's experience and knowledge of the Mexican economy offers the ideal ingredients for the creation and development of a truly global private equity network solution. "Mexico's private equity community is growing rapidly and demanding access to a range of business opportunities. We are pleased that Banorte has chosen NVST as their partner to launch a whole new era of access to the global private capital marketplace for Mexico," said Samantha Wilkinson, President, COO, and Founder of NVST. Banorte becomes the second Latin American institution to partner with NVST to develop a specialized internet site for it's own market. Trade Center Assessoria de Investimentos Ltda., a Brazil based company, formed a similar alliance with NVST last year and launched www.nvstbrazil.com.

About NVST
The NVST Private Equity Network® since 1996 has been the largest online private capital marketplace. The online private investment portal now lists 77,000 investor, advisor and entrepreneur profiles; participants have listed over 8500 opportunities across venture, debt financing, and mergers and acquisitions. NVST also publishes research information such as The Corporate Growth Report and DoneDeals. NVST enterprise software provides private label deal flow management and portfolio tools for VC's, Angel groups, investment banks and M&A firms. For more information, please visit www.nvst.com.

About Banorte
Grupo Financiero Banorte has 453 branch offices throughout Mexico. Banorte has 100 years of banking experience in Mexico, and currently is the fifth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and 9.1% market share in the Mexican banking system. Banorte provides 1,365 ATM´s to its clients, 9,000+ POS terminals and a state of the art Call Center to offer the best service to its customers. In addition to banking services, Banorte participates in other financial activities through its wholly owned subsidiaries, including: a Brokerage House, Insurance (jointly with the prestigious Italian firm, Assicurazioni Generali), Afore (Pension Funds), Annuities, Leasing Factoring, Bonding, and Warehousing. Grupo Financiero Banorte also owns AFIN Securities International, Ltd., and Banorte Asset Management Inc., US broker-dealer and an investment adviser respectively located in New York with branches in Seattle, WA. Banorte currently offers to its clients a broad range of services via the Internet targeted for businesses and individuals. More than 50% of all Mexican virtual stores use Banorte´s payment solutions, one of the most advanced systems in Latin America.

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