Ellington Financial LLC Completes Corporate Conversion and is Renamed Ellington Financial Inc.

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) (“Ellington Financial” or the
“Company”) announced today that it has completed its conversion to a
corporation under Delaware law and changed its name to Ellington
Financial Inc. from Ellington Financial LLC. Since the Company had
already elected to be taxed as a corporation for U.S. federal and state
income tax purposes effective January 1, 2019, no material tax or
financial changes are expected from the state law conversion.

Each existing common share of Ellington Financial LLC was converted into
a fully paid share of common stock, $0.001 par value per share, of
Ellington Financial Inc. without any action required by shareholders.

“We are pleased to complete our state law conversion, which we’ve done
in conjunction with our conversion to a REIT,” said Laurence Penn, Chief
Executive Officer and President. “We believe that our conversion will
broaden our base of potential investors, enhance the liquidity of our
stock, and provide us with the additional benefits of potential index
fund inclusion. With this milestone complete, we expect to maintain our
core investment and hedging strategies and focus on driving attractive
risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders.”

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve
numerous risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from the
Company's beliefs, expectations, estimates, and projections and,
consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as
predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements are not
historical in nature and can be identified by words such as "believe,"
"expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "plan," "continue,"
"intend," "should," "would," "could," "goal," "objective," "will,"
"may," "seek," or similar expressions or their negative forms, or by
references to strategy, plans, or intentions. Examples of
forward-looking statements in this press release include, without
limitation, statements regarding the consequences of the Company’s state
law conversion. The Company's results can fluctuate from month to month
and from quarter to quarter depending on a variety of factors, some of
which are beyond the Company's control and/or are difficult to predict,
including, without limitation, changes in interest rates and the market
value of the Company's securities, changes in mortgage default rates and
prepayment rates, the Company's ability to borrow to finance its assets,
changes in government regulations affecting the Company's business, the
Company's ability to maintain its exclusion from registration under the
Investment Company Act of 1940, the Company’s ability to qualify and
maintain its qualification as a real estate investment trust, or "REIT,"
and other changes in market conditions and economic trends. Furthermore,
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties,
including, among other things, those described under Item 1A of the
Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 15, 2018 which can
be accessed through the Company's website at www.ellingtonfinancial.com
or at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov).
Other risks, uncertainties, and factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those projected or implied may be described
from time to time in reports the Company's files with the SEC, including
reports on Forms 10-Q, 10-K and 8-K. The Company undertakes no
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

About Ellington Financial

Ellington Financial invests in a diverse array of real-estate-related
and other financial assets, including residential and commercial
mortgage-backed securities, residential and commercial mortgage loans,
consumer loans and asset-backed securities backed by consumer loans,
collateralized loan obligations, non-mortgage and mortgage-related
derivatives, equity investments in loan origination companies, and other
strategic investments. Ellington Financial is externally managed and
advised by Ellington Financial Management LLC, an affiliate of Ellington
Management Group, L.L.C.

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