HOUSTON — In a time when many leasing companies are reducing business due to residual losses, The Mint Leasing Inc., which primarily offers leasing services to customers in Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida, is growing.

It recently announced that the company has successfully completed a planned business combination with Legacy Communications, which is designed to help the company continue to drive its expansion.

With this announcement comes the news that shares of The Mint Leasing have commenced trading on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "MLES."

"Today marks an exciting new chapter for The Mint Leasing, and I look forward to leveraging the benefits of being publicly traded to expand our operations and accelerate the growth of our business," said Jerry Parish, founder and chief executive officer and president of The Mint Leasing.

Morgan Skinner, president and CEO of Legacy Communications, added, "This business combination with The Mint Leasing Inc. represents a significant milestone for Legacy Communications that is crucial to the future success of the company."

"I am excited about our future as a publicly traded company, as this step will allow us to accelerate the growth of our business," Parish indicated.

While The Mint Leasing leases automobiles and fleet vehicles throughout the United States, most of its customers are located in Texas and six other states in the Southeast. Lease transactions are solicited and administered by the company's sales force and staff of 25 employees.

The company's customers primarily consist of brand-name dealers that seek to provide leasing options to their customers, many of whom would otherwise not have the opportunity to acquire a new or late-model-year vehicle.

In late July, the company unveiled its strategy for continued expansion of its business through securitization initiatives, the recruitment of additional sales and marketing staff, entry into new markets, and the opening of regional offices throughout the nation.

"Our business has grown dramatically during the past two years, with gross revenues increasing over 110 percent in 2007 to approximately $30 million from approximately $14 million in 2006, and further gains to the $60-million area are anticipated for the year ending Dec. 31, 2008," said Parish.

"The primary limitation upon our growth has involved access to capital, and we believe our status as a publicly traded company will allow us to address this challenge much more efficiently. Along with recent expansions in our bank credit lines, we are currently evaluating the potential for a securitization of our $70 million lease portfolio, among a number of alternatives available to us for financing additional growth. In addition to these actions, the company plans to apply for a listing of its common stock on the American Stock Exchange before the end of 2008," he continued.

"We have proven the validity and profitability of our leasing concepts over the past several years and believe the market potential for our leasing model is nationwide in scope," continued Parish. "While strong economic trends in Houston and certain other Texas markets have provided solid underpinnings for The Mint Leasing's business model, we have successfully expanded into markets in six other states in the Southeastern U.S. by providing brand-name dealers and consumers with attractive options unavailable from traditional financing sources.

Discussing the business model, he went on to say, "Our near-term plans call for entry into several new markets during the next 12 months. Longer-term, we expect to open a number of regional administrative offices throughout the United States in order to provide the ultimate in customer service to auto dealerships and to allow for the most efficient sale and/or re-leasing of vehicles at the end of contractual lease periods."

Despite several automakers pulling back or cutting leasing, Parish said, "We believe that The Mint Leasing's unique underwriting and risk management philosophy has positioned the company for a continuation of its aggressive growth in coming years."

After deduction of unearned income from gross revenues, the company reported net revenues of approximately $6.8 million in the year ended Dec. 31, 2006. Net revenues increased 226 percent in 2007 to approximately $22.2 million, according to officials.

The company went on to announce that it has retained RJ Falkner & Co. to develop and implement a comprehensive investor relations program for The Mint Leasing.

RJ Falkner & Co. is an investment research and financial communications firm that seeks out undervalued small-cap companies with the potential to outperform the overall stock market on an intermediate- and long-term basis.

Its research analysts work with the managements of such companies to broaden their exposure within the investment community and expand the level of interest among investment professionals and high-net-worth individual investors.

"We selected RJ Falkner & Co. as our investor relations firm because of its expertise in shareholder communications and the relationships that its research analysts have developed within the investment community during the past 38 years," noted Parish.

R. Jerry Falkner, CFA and president of RJ Falkner & Co., added, "We are excited to be selected to provide a full range of investor relations services to The Mint Leasing Inc. Through its innovative leasing services in a growing number of states, The Mint Leasing works directly with brand-name automobile dealers to provide their customers with attractive alternatives for the acquisition of new or low-mileage pre-owned vehicles.

"With leading automobile finance companies cutting back on their finance and leasing operations, we believe The Mint Leasing is well-positioned to expand its share of the automobile leasing market, which has historically accounted for about 20 percent of the auto market, in coming years," he continued.

The agreement between The Mint Leasing Inc. and RJ Falkner & Co. covers one year and provides for assistance in investor relations, press release development, the preparation of independent analyses and research reports, along with other related services.

For more information in The Mint Leasing, visit www.mintleasing.com.