Fremont Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm, announced today an association with John J. Anton, former CEO and majority operating owner of Ghirardelli Chocolate Company. Effective May 1, 2001, Mr. Anton was named an Advisory Director to the firm with responsibility for consulting on the identification, acquisition and operating oversight of companies in the consumer food and beverage sectors.

Mr. Anton’s experience spans more than 30 years of business management focused in the food industry. He held major corporate positions with the Ralston Purina Company and Nabisco Brands Corp., and more recently, he was the Chairman and CEO of two successful leveraged buyouts: Carlin Foods Corporation, a national sales and marketing company with focus in the dairy, baking and food service industries, and Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, a company engaged in the manufacture, sale and distribution of premium branded chocolate.

Mr. Anton said, “I was particularly attracted to Fremont Partners because of its principled approach to investing, its successful history of partnering with the management of portfolio companies, and its focus on creating value primarily through operational improvements rather than through financial engineering.”

Fremont Partners makes substantial equity investments in operating companies with market capitalizations generally up to $1 billion, typically seeking to deploy as much as $200 million of equity in each investment opportunity. The firm looks for companies with sound business franchises and proven management teams. Fremont Partners’ equity resources total approximately $1.5 billion. Fremont Partners is the principal entity through which the Fremont Group conducts its private equity investing in established operating businesses. Fremont Group is a privately held investment management firm with approximately $13 billion in assets under management.

Robert Jaunich, Managing Director of the firm, said, “We are delighted to have Jack’s participation in our activities. He is a seasoned operating executive with a long and successful track record. Jack fits well with Fremont Partners’ operating approach to investing and its focus on building long-term, sustainable value in portfolio companies. We believe that food and other consumer businesses could represent an attractive area of investment, and we look forward to working with Jack to take advantage of potential opportunities in this area.”

Mr. Anton lives in San Francisco with his family. He will work out of Fremont Partners’ downtown office at 199 Fremont Street, Suite 2300, San Francisco, CA 94105-2261.