Piper Jaffray Companies, a leading investment bank and asset management firm, announced that it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire River Branch Holdings, LLC, an investment banking boutique focused on the financial institutions sector. The acquisition will further strengthen Piper Jaffray’s M&A leadership and add significant investment banking resources dedicated to banks, thrifts and depository institutions. This announcement follows the hiring of five managing directors in FIG investment banking last month, along with Piper Jaffray’s recent expansion of its FIG-focused equity research and institutional sales and trading groups.
“We are pleased to welcome this industry veteran team to our firm. River Branch Holdings, with its partnership-centric culture, middle-market advisory capabilities and senior talent, will be an instrumental component of our plan to compete aggressively in the financial services sector,” said Andrew Duff, chairman and CEO of Piper Jaffray.
River Branch Holdings is led by David Olson and Steven Kent. Olson will serve as co-head of Piper Jaffray financial institutions investment banking, alongside Bob Hutchinson. Kent will serve as a vice chairman of investment banking.
Commenting on the transaction, Chad Abraham, global co-head of Piper Jaffray investment banking and capital markets said, “Joining forces with River Branch positions us to grow more quickly by expanding our breadth and depth in the sector with a team that complements our recent hires. David Olson and Steve Kent will help add to the senior leadership of our FIG practice and bring very deep client relationships.”
“We are excited about what this combination achieves for our clients and our employees,” said Olson, chairman and CEO of River Branch Holdings. “Piper Jaffray is a firm that shares our partnership-driven culture, and its capital markets capabilities will bolster our advisory product offerings. In addition, their commitment to the middle market and their sustained investment in the FIG space are highly attractive to us.”
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions and expected to close in the third quarter of 2015. Terms of the transaction are undisclosed.
Based in Chicago, River Branch Holdings, LLC is an international investment banking boutique focused on a range of financial services clients including commercial banks and thrifts, financial technology, specialty finance and broker/dealers. The firm provides merger and acquisition advisory, corporate finance advisory, recapitalization, restructuring and private placement services to middle-market clients and private equity firms.
Piper Jaffray Companies is an investment bank and asset management firm headquartered in Minneapolis with offices across the U.S. and in London, Hong Kong and Zurich.