Boston Private Financial Holdings Completes $75 Million Investment By The Carlyle Group

Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPFH) today announced that the Company’s shareholders approved both proposals voted on during today’s special meeting of shareholders, completing The Carlyle Group’s previously-announced $75 million investment in the firm. BPFH’s shareholders approved an amendment to the Company’s Restated Articles of Organization to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock from 70,000,000 to 170,000,000. The Company’s shareholders also approved the conversion of Carlyle’s contingent preferred stock into common stock and the exercise of Carlyle’s warrants to purchase common stock. The conversion of the contingent preferred stock and exercise of the warrants may now take place from time to time in accordance with their terms and subject to certain common stock ownership limitations.

The Carlyle investment is a central component of BPFH’s overall capital raising plan which has generated in excess of $185 million in new equity capital, in part through a $110 million public offering of common stock completed on July 29, 2008.

"We are gratified by our shareholders’ support for our capital raising plan and we could not be more pleased with the outcome of this process,” said Timothy Vaill, Chairman and CEO of BPFH. "The combined private/public offering has been one of the most successful capital raising initiatives for a financial services company this year. In addition to further strengthening our balance sheet, these funds give us the flexibility to address aggressively the non-strategic credit issues in Southern California while focusing our resources on future growth. We believe that the investment by Carlyle is a further validation of the long-term strength of our strategy.”

Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc.

BPFH is a national financial service organization comprised of independently operated affiliates located in key regions of the U.S. that offer private banking, wealth advisory and investment management services to the high net worth marketplace, selected businesses and institutions. The Company enters demographically attractive markets through a very selective acquisition process and then expands by way of organic growth. It employs a distinct business strategy, empowering its affiliates to run independently such that they can best serve their clients at the local level, while at the same time providing strategic oversight and access to resources, both financial and intellectual, to support management, compliance, legal, marketing, and operations. (NASDAQ: BPFH).

For more information about BPFH, visit the Company's web site at www.bostonprivate.com.

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include, among others, statements regarding our strategy, evaluations of future interest rate trends and liquidity, prospects for growth in assets, and prospects for overall results over the long term. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to significant risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company’s control. Forward-looking statements are based on the current assumptions and beliefs of management and are only expectations of future results. The Company’s actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of, among other factors, adverse conditions in the capital and debt markets and the impact of such conditions on the Company’s private banking and asset investment advisory activities, changes in interest rates, competitive pressures from other financial institutions, a deterioration in general economic conditions on a national basis or in the local markets in which the Company operates, including changes which adversely affect borrowers’ ability to service and repay our loans, changes in loan defaults and charge-off rates, adequacy of loan loss reserves, reduction in deposit levels necessitating increased borrowing to fund loans and investments, the passing of adverse government regulation, the risk that goodwill and intangibles recorded in the Company’s financial statements will become impaired, and risks related to the identification and implementation of acquisitions, as well as the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.