Business & Finance
Business and Finance
Business and Finance
Fri, February 13, 2009 Jefferies Agrees to Acquire Depfa First Albany, a Leading Municipal Securities Firm
NEW YORK--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Depfa Bank plc, a member of Hypo Real Estate Group, to acquire Depfa First Albany Securities LLC, a leading New York City-based municipal securities firm that provides integrated investment banking, advisory, and sales and trading services.
Depfa First Albany acquired the municipal securities business of the former First Albany Capital Inc. in late 2007. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions with the transaction expected to close during the first quarter. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Richard B. Handler, Chairman and CEO of Jefferies, commented: "Jefferies' acquisition of Depfa First Albany will expand our fixed income effort consistent with our client-oriented focus for business development. This acquisition offers Jefferies a unique opportunity to enter the municipal market in a comprehensive and high quality way, with a cohesive team of experts. We are pleased to integrate this established public finance team into Jefferies Fixed Income Department, which now totals nearly 250 professionals."
Brian P. Friedman, Chairman of Jefferies' Executive Committee, added: "We welcome the Depfa First Albany team, which includes one of the best municipal sales and trading forces on the Street. The group's track record of market making and reputation for quality relationship banking will enhance our efforts to take a leadership role in rebuilding America. Jefferies has prided itself on a focused commitment of resources to serving both issuers and investors. Helping the municipal sector meet its current challenges is, for us, both a core mandate and a growth opportunity consistent with our long-term strategy. The combination of this team and our broader capabilities and resources uniquely positions Jefferies to bring a fresh view to the important realm of public-private partnerships."
Kenneth D. Gibbs, the Chief Executive Officer of Depfa First Albany Securities, said: "We see a great opportunity in joining the Jefferies platform. We look forward to further growing our team and expanding our reach in the municipal sector."
Over 70 employees will join Jefferies as a result of this acquisition. Depfa First Albany has grown its public finance investment banking effort significantly in the past year, including the appointment of Neil Flanagan, an 18-year veteran of Bear Stearns, to head its Public Finance Department. Depfa First Albany has also assumed large remarketing agreements from the UBS portfolio.
The Depfa First Albany team will join Jefferies' expanded fixed income business. Following the acquisition, Mr. Gibbs will become President of the Municipal Securities Division, which will conduct business as Jefferies First Albany Securities.
Notes to editors:
About Jefferies
Jefferies, a global investment bank and securities firm, has served companies and their investors for more than 45 years. Headquartered in New York City, with offices in more than 25 cities around the world, Jefferies provides clients with capital markets and financial advisory services, institutional brokerage, securities research and asset management. The firm is a leading provider of trade execution in equity, high yield, convertible and international securities for institutional investors and high net worth individuals. Jefferies & Company, Inc. is the principal operating subsidiary of Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF: [ www.jefferies.com ]).
About Depfa First Albany
Depfa First Albany Securities and the former First Albany Capital, have underwritten more than $235 billion in financings over the last five years.. Depfa First Albany Securities has a highly respected and recognizable brand providing public finance services and municipal bond underwriting. It possesses the wide range of capital and intellectual resources necessary to provide the highest caliber of services to the most sophisticated issuers and investors of the municipal finance community, as well as to the smaller, first time, and not-for-profit borrowers.
Headquartered in New York City, Depfa First Albany has 10 public finance offices in the United States – New York, Albany, Boston, Chadds Ford, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Richmond, Sacramento and San Francisco.
Depfa First Albany is organized around three groups: Public Finance (Investment Banking), Sales and Trading, and Municipal Research. Its Public Finance group of almost 40 professionals has expertise in all sectors of the municipal market, including general obligation, asset securitizations, airports, water and sewer and health care credits. It offers one of the largest and most respected municipal institutional sales forces in the industry, with 20 dedicated municipal salespeople who traded in excess of $100 billion in the secondary market in 2008. The Municipal Research professionals assist both Public Finance and Sales and Trading on a daily basis in their credit dealings with both issuer and investor clients.
