GNP's primary purpose will be to finance and invest in high-quality residential real estate and golf resort communities around the world, featuring Nicklaus Design courses as the centerpiece of each development.  Nicklaus Investments, along with Jack Nicklaus and his team of industry professionals at Nicklaus Design, will apply decades of experience in the golf industry to GNP. In turn, Guggenheim will bring a wealth of experience in finance and real estate development, with more than $100 billion of assets under supervision.

Jack Nicklaus, who this week concludes his record-setting major championship career with his final appearance in the British Open, said, "I have been very active in the design business for almost as many years I have played professional golf. I am proud of the global design business we have created and the other ways in which we continue to impact the business of golf. We at Nicklaus Design are enjoying the most successful years in the history of our firm, and our partnership with GNP will allow us to continue to grow the business in other areas. For the last four decades, we have worked with the world's best real estate developers to create some of the finest courses around the globe. With the introduction of GNP, we can extend our services beyond design, and offer full-service support from financing to the finished product. GNP will complement and enhance what we are currently doing at Nicklaus Design."

"We are greatly excited about this opportunity and our new venture with Nicklaus Investments," said Todd Morley, Managing Partner of Guggenheim. "Jack Nicklaus is one of the greatest athletes ever to have played a professional sport; but, more importantly, he and his family represent excellence and integrity which are essential to any successful enterprise."  "The opportunity to partner with this fine family is a principle reason for our great enthusiasm in forming GNP," said Andrew Rosenfield, Managing Partner of Guggenheim who added, "GNP allows us to leverage our collective skills, knowledge and experience in finance, branding and real estate development with the Nicklaus family. We believe that the collective talents of Guggenheim and Nicklaus allow GNP efficiently to provide capital to developers of residential and resort communities."

The marriage of high-end real estate and Nicklaus Design golf courses has been among the most successful in the world. Real estate on Nicklaus courses outperforms similar property developed by competitors, and maintains a quality and distinction unique in the world of residential and resort properties.  Nicklaus Designs is the world's leading golf course design firm, with more than 50 courses under construction, and 280 courses currently open for play in 28 countries around the world.

"There are great synergies that exist between Nicklaus Design and GNP," said Gary Nicklaus, President of Nicklaus Investments. "Nicklaus Design is involved from the onset with the best developers and therefore is positioned uniquely to understand and evaluate the developer's financial needs. We are confident that GNP will provide an extremely valuable turnkey service for developers that does not exist elsewhere."

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) will serve as the primary source of debt capital for GNP, enhancing the strength of the Guggenheim-Nicklaus partnership.  RBS is the world's sixth largest bank and second largest in Europe. Jack Nicklaus has been a spokesperson for RBS for three years, and as he heads into his final British Open, RBS-an official sponsor of the Open Championship-will unveil a 5-pound note with his image on it. Nicklaus becomes the first living person outside of Her Majesty the Queen and the late Queen Mother to appear on a Scottish note.

"RBS and my father have enjoyed a strong relationship and RBS has proven that they recognize the worldwide appeal of the Nicklaus name and the equity in the brand," Gary Nicklaus added. "As they have learned more about the impact Nicklaus Design has on the real estate market, RBS has co-financed several of the projects we have in development, and they will continue to be a vital part of what GNP sets out to accomplish."

About Guggenheim Partners
Guggenheim Partners is a diversified financial services firm with offices in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Geneva, Hong Kong and London.  It has over $100 billion of assets under supervision and runs numerous investment funds including aircraft funds, debt and mortgage backed asset funds, hedge funds, private equity funds and a variety of real estate funds.  Guggenheim is also a large wealth management firm and traces its heritage to the innovative Guggenheim family that was a prime mover in the development of business in the United States in the late 1800s and thereafter as well as an important pioneer in philanthropy creating the Guggenheim Museum and Foundation.

About Nicklaus Investments
Nicklaus Investments and Nicklaus Design are two of the principal business activities of golf legend Jack Nicklaus and his family.  No name is more synonymous with greatness in the sport of golf than the name Jack Nicklaus, and no single person has changed the face of the sport more than Jack Nicklaus - the player, the designer, and the good-will ambassador. With well over 100 professional victories worldwide, and a record 18 professional major championship crowns, Jack has been named "Golfer of the Century" or "Golfer of the Millennium" by almost every major golf publication in the world. He was also named Individual Male Athlete of the Century by Sports Illustrated, and one of the 10 Greatest Athletes of the Century by ESPN. The legacy Jack has left as a player can be rivaled only by the legacy he is leaving as a golf-course designer. Jack was named GolfWorld's Architect of the Year in 1993, and in 1999, Golf Digest named him the world's leading active designer.  He has received almost every honor bestowed by the golf industry for his contributions to the game through his golf course design work.

About The Royal Bank of Scotland Group ("RBS Group")
RBS Group is one of the world's leading financial services companies providing a range of retail and corporate banking, financial markets, consumer finance, insurance, wealth management and other finance-related activities.  RBS Group had a market capitalization of $102 billion at December 14th, 2004 and now ranks as the sixth largest bank in the world.  For 2003, RBS Group posted total revenue of $31.4 billion and operating profit before tax, goodwill amortization and integration costs of $11.7 billion. RBS Group serves more than 35 million customers world-wide and employs over 137,000 people, including nearly 30,000 in the US. In the US, RBS Group owns Citizens Financial Group (retail bank, credit card and merchant acquiring businesses) and its North America Corporate Banking and Financial Markets business is a leading provider of financing solutions to corporate and institutional clients. RBS Greenwich Capital tailors debt capital market solutions to institutions world-wide and has a leading position in US treasuries and asset backed securities.

Guggenheim Partners
Andrew M. Rosenfield
Managing Partner 
312.244.6920

Nicklaus Investments
Gary Nicklaus, President
561.227.0332

www.guggenheimnicklaus.com