16 February 2009
The A.G. Edwards and Wachovia Securities account integration is complete.
If you have converted your A.G. Edwards online access to Wachovia Securities' Access Online, you will be able to log in to Access Online to view all of your account balances and positions.
29/1/2009
New enrollments into former A.G. Edwards client account access service and online bill pay will no longer be accepted.
Conversion From A.G. Edwards' Client Account Access to Access Online
Clients who currently use A.G. Edwards client account access service will convert to Wachovia Securities' Access Online ("Access Online"). From Feb. 10 - April 30, when you log in to client account access, you will be given the opportunity to go through an easy, online conversion process that will establish your user ID (user name) and password for Access Online.
2/10/2009 to 4/30/2009
Take Action:
Convert your A.G. Edwards online access and online bill pay account(s) to Wachovia Securities' Access Online.
2/18/2009 to 4/30/2009
Take Action:
If you use personal financial management software, such as Quicken® or Microsoft® Money, you will need to transition your importing capabilities from A.G. Edwards to Wachovia Securities.
3/31/2009 to 4/30/2009
You will no longer be able to go to client account access, although you will still be able to convert your A.G. Edwards online access to Access Online. In addition, you will still be able to import former A.G. Edwards account data into Quicken®, Microsoft® Money and TurboTax®.
http://www.wachoviasecurities.com/ws/changes.html
Showing posts with label M-and-A. Show all posts
Showing posts with label M-and-A. Show all posts
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Citi Morgan Joint Venture
Simth Barney Brokerage of Citigroup and Morgan Stanley's Wealth management unit will be merged into a Joint venture (JV)
James Morgan will be the chairman of the JV.
Charles Johnston, president of Citigroup's global wealth management business in the United States and Canada will be the venture's president.
Morgan Stanley will pay citigroup $2.7 billion in cash for an initial 51% stake in the venture. This stake can grow to 100% in five years.
James Morgan will be the chairman of the JV.
Charles Johnston, president of Citigroup's global wealth management business in the United States and Canada will be the venture's president.
Morgan Stanley will pay citigroup $2.7 billion in cash for an initial 51% stake in the venture. This stake can grow to 100% in five years.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The HBR Interview with Bruce Wasserstein CEO Lazard
GIVING GREAT ADVICE. By: Stewart, Thomas A., Morse, Gardiner,
Harvard Business Review,
Jan 2008, Vol. 86, Issue 1
Some important points
LAST SPRING, Bruce Wasserstein received Harvard Law School's 2007 Great Negotiator Award, joining a select group that includes Sadako Ogata, a former United Nations high commissioner for refugees, and George Mitchell, the former U.S. senator who led the peace talks in Northern Ireland.
In presenting the award, Harvard Business School professor James Sebenius cited in particular the masterful deal making that went into Wasserstein's 2005 coup at Lazard, in which he famously disassembled a century and a half of family ownership and took the fractious M&A and financial advisory firm public.
He is a graduate of Harvard's business and law schools and Cambridge University.
At Cambridge University, he wrote a thesis on British merger policy.
Marketing initiative at First Boston:
"How do we market the business?" and "What are we marketing?" and "How can we possibly compete with larger M&A businesses?" We decided first to execute deals really well and then to market that track record. Our competitors often delegated deal implementation to lawyers, which we felt was a mistake. We realized that understanding the nuances of deal terms and structure could have a tremendous financial impact.
We decided to separate the M&A advice, which was a CEO business, from the financing advice, which was a treasurer or CFO business, and appeal directly to the CEOs in our marketing.
We also developed a "creative department." Its job was to think about the dynamics of industries and what changes within them would take place over the next five years.
We helped companies identify and focus on their hidden core strengths.
When I came to Lazard, it had a variety of counterproductive structures. One was what I called the cell-theory structure: You hire a banker. He or she has three assistants. They keep all their information to themselves, and they fight for revenue with other cells. Another was our fee-splitting system. These are counterproductive because Lazard's competitive advantage is working on difficult, complex assignments, so having a very deep, global team is a necessity, especially in light of the impact that globalization has had on industries.
We have a somewhat less centrally managed structure and we sacrifice some degree of efficiency by deliberately having a less centrally managed culture.
We have and want to attract a network of stars - people who communicate and cooperate but are entrepreneurial and stand out as quality individuals, who are not the cogs in a corporate machine.
What we can do is help the CEO think through an array of options, partly by asking the necessary questions, but also by inserting some very practical observations about the effects of specific decisions.
A good banker can ask the right questions, marshal the arguments, highlight the risks, and detail the options from the financial market and practical implementation perspectives.
Whether a deal makes sense relates directly to the question of the CEO's objectives, of course. Having an appreciation of the personality of your client, both the corporate personality and the individual personality, is key.
Similarly, in the deal business, to be a buyer you should have a conviction that is stronger than consensus.Winning may not be about paying $1 more or less but about creating opportunities for the future, managing the target well after the closing, and not being unduly pressured by an inappropriate financing structure. And sometimes winning is not doing the deal at all.
Harvard Business Review,
Jan 2008, Vol. 86, Issue 1
Some important points
LAST SPRING, Bruce Wasserstein received Harvard Law School's 2007 Great Negotiator Award, joining a select group that includes Sadako Ogata, a former United Nations high commissioner for refugees, and George Mitchell, the former U.S. senator who led the peace talks in Northern Ireland.
In presenting the award, Harvard Business School professor James Sebenius cited in particular the masterful deal making that went into Wasserstein's 2005 coup at Lazard, in which he famously disassembled a century and a half of family ownership and took the fractious M&A and financial advisory firm public.
He is a graduate of Harvard's business and law schools and Cambridge University.
At Cambridge University, he wrote a thesis on British merger policy.
Marketing initiative at First Boston:
"How do we market the business?" and "What are we marketing?" and "How can we possibly compete with larger M&A businesses?" We decided first to execute deals really well and then to market that track record. Our competitors often delegated deal implementation to lawyers, which we felt was a mistake. We realized that understanding the nuances of deal terms and structure could have a tremendous financial impact.
We decided to separate the M&A advice, which was a CEO business, from the financing advice, which was a treasurer or CFO business, and appeal directly to the CEOs in our marketing.
We also developed a "creative department." Its job was to think about the dynamics of industries and what changes within them would take place over the next five years.
We helped companies identify and focus on their hidden core strengths.
When I came to Lazard, it had a variety of counterproductive structures. One was what I called the cell-theory structure: You hire a banker. He or she has three assistants. They keep all their information to themselves, and they fight for revenue with other cells. Another was our fee-splitting system. These are counterproductive because Lazard's competitive advantage is working on difficult, complex assignments, so having a very deep, global team is a necessity, especially in light of the impact that globalization has had on industries.
We have a somewhat less centrally managed structure and we sacrifice some degree of efficiency by deliberately having a less centrally managed culture.
We have and want to attract a network of stars - people who communicate and cooperate but are entrepreneurial and stand out as quality individuals, who are not the cogs in a corporate machine.
What we can do is help the CEO think through an array of options, partly by asking the necessary questions, but also by inserting some very practical observations about the effects of specific decisions.
A good banker can ask the right questions, marshal the arguments, highlight the risks, and detail the options from the financial market and practical implementation perspectives.
Whether a deal makes sense relates directly to the question of the CEO's objectives, of course. Having an appreciation of the personality of your client, both the corporate personality and the individual personality, is key.
Similarly, in the deal business, to be a buyer you should have a conviction that is stronger than consensus.Winning may not be about paying $1 more or less but about creating opportunities for the future, managing the target well after the closing, and not being unduly pressured by an inappropriate financing structure. And sometimes winning is not doing the deal at all.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Recent Mergers in SMIs
2005
Some of the major mergers that took place during this period were the ones between Ameritrade and TD Waterhouse, which gave as a result TD Ameritrade, and the acquisition of Harrisdirect and BrownCo by E*Trade.
http://www.mutual-funds-advisor.com/mutual-fund-instruments/merger-trend-discount-broker-industry.html
----------
Some of the major mergers that took place during this period were the ones between Ameritrade and TD Waterhouse, which gave as a result TD Ameritrade, and the acquisition of Harrisdirect and BrownCo by E*Trade.
http://www.mutual-funds-advisor.com/mutual-fund-instruments/merger-trend-discount-broker-industry.html
----------
Monday, November 26, 2007
Integration of ILFS Investmentsmart by Etrade
IL&FS Investsmart came into being on September 1, 1997, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services. IL&FS is a leading non-banking, financial company that primarily promotes infrastructure development.
Investsmart is a financial services company engaged in intermediation of financial products and financial advisory services for retail, institutional investors, and corporates. It also forayed into merchant banking and commodity broking business, besides distribution of insurance products. Such impressive parentage helped the company in the early days to get good institutional clients. But overall the financials were not looking very attractive.
In 2,000, ORIX Corporation, an integrated financial services group based in Tokyo, picked up 27.59% stake in the company. The same year it launched its fully functional website, investsmartindia.com. In January 2002, it amalgamated IL&FS Merchant Banking Services and DebtonNet India with IL&FS Investsmart.
These consolidation exercises were taken to build a strong balance sheet and to prepare itself for the future. After its public issue at Rs 125 in July 2005, the scrip is still hovering at around Rs 170-200 for the last two years. For instance in 2006-07, both its topline and bottomline took a hit in view of the stagnant growth and branch expansion exercises. It set up 37 new branches.
Revenue rose marginally by 7% from Rs 224 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 241 crore in 2006-07. Similarly, operating profit dipped to Rs 70 crore from Rs 117 crore in the previous year. But with E*Trade as its partner, the future will surely not be a mirror of the past. Already there are visible signs of change. A comparison of retail revenues for 2006-07 and the current six months, gives a clear picture of this change. These figures held the shape of things to come.
E*Trade reported net revenues of USD 2.4 billion or Rs 9,600 crore in 2006 with net income of USD 629 million or Rs 2,500 crore. It manages retail client assets worth USD 194.9 billion and customer cash and deposits at USD 33.6 billion in 2006. E*Trade has grown through the acquisitions route. It did three major acquisitions between 2005-06. So, what did a big player like E*Trade see in IL&FS?
Devinjit Singh, Head-Investment Banking, Mergers & Acquisitions India, said, ?Well in that particular case, I guess there were two or three things which E*Trade was looking to achieve. The first was to be able to acquire a business which had customers. Second, was to acquire an established platform for the distribution of its products. Third, was an access to the management that Investsmart had built. All of which probably proved appealing to E*Trade to establish and grow its business in India.?
Etrade did not suddenly acquire Investsmart. It came in when SAIF Investment Company, Mauritius, an affiliate of Soft Bank Corporation USA decided to have an Indian presence. Soft Bank was also a stakeholder in E*Trade. So, E*Trade too decided to take up 14% stake in Investsmart while SAIF took a 20% stake. That was in January 2005. In July 2005, the company came out with an IPO issue where stakes got diluted. A GDR issue closely followed this in December 2005.
After getting a taste of the Indian market for over one year, E*Trade felt it opportune to raise its stake further to 43% in March. E*Trade increased stake to 17.86% while subscribing to Investsmart?s GDR issue in December 2005, further increased stake to 37% by purchase of GDRs from the secondary market and then acquired 6% through open offer.
*(Announced a tender offer for an additional 20 percent of the shares of IL&FS Investsmart Limited, one of India's leading financial services organizations, providing a complete range of Financial Management Solutions for Retail and Institutional customers(July-September 2006)
This now makes it a core partner with IL&FS having a 29% stake. By beginning of 2006, not only did Investsmart have a strong partner in E*Trade but also oodles of cash to expand its business. Its kitty was Rs 550 crore, of this Rs 440 crore came from GDR proceeds and the balance Rs 110 crore from IPO. That money is now going to change the dynamics of the business.
Sachin Joshi, ED-Finance and Operations, IL&FS Investsmart, said, ?The purpose of having the GDR and IPO was to go in for major expansion for branches and mobilise resources which could be utilized to undertake securities and securities related financing activity. With E*Trade coming in as a strategic partner, we could also look at few acquisitions over a period of time. We mobilized about Rs 550 crore out of the IPO and GDR proceeds. Add to that our own network, today we have about Rs 750 crore of surplus cash available in the system, out of which at least Rs 650 crore could be utilized to do all these activities and change the face of the balance sheet.
Besides money muscle, Investsmart now has huge marketing and technological benefits by partnering with E*Trade. It will change the way Investsmart does business. Investsmart can now rely heavily on the expertise developed by E*Trade in developing brand architecture, marketing strategies, and tools to position the company as a dominant player in the domestic market.
More than operational expertise, what E*Trade Financial brought to the table was the experience of surviving the boom-bust cycle. This fast growing brokerage firm suffered red ink in its balance sheet in 2001, when the dotcom bubble went bust. But E*Trade survived all of that, and it bounced back with full vigour. This rich experience is what E*Trade now brings to Investsmart.
How E*Trade changed the way business was done at Investsmart?
To start with, it adopted its global policy of focused strategy and focused execution. What E*Trade brought to the table was its strategy behind providing the products. Customer service, branding, and technology all of these will give Investsmart a competitive edge.
What E*Trade brings on the customer side is focus. Till E*Trade came into the picture, Investsmart was trying to cater to all kinds of customers like low-end, middle-level, and high-end. Catering to people at all levels meant precious time spent on servicing low-end customers, thereby losing a high-end customer. Now, all of that will change.
Sandeep Presswala, ED-Retail Business, IL&FS Investsmart, said, ?One of the very important things that has happened post E*Trade coming was that they used to have a fairly defined customer focus. We have identified the mass affluent as a customer audience where we want to define all our focus and energies on. We see the segment as a fairly important segment in our scheme of things as we go forward. Looking at the growth of the service sector and looking at the growth of corporate India mass affluent, which is the most important segment in our customer segmentation strategy, is going to be the key focus area for our business going forward. Once you have a customer focus at the center of your business strategy, everything revolves around that.
But finally what matters is making the right call in a volatile and global market. That is only possible by good research back up. In a globalised India, where the economy is impacted by international events, financial research cannot be done on a standalone basis, but has to be done on a consolidated basis. Investsmart realized this two years ago.
According Sreesankar R, Head of Research, IL&FS Investsmart, they have a strong research team out here and we have created a team of around 22 people right now in India.
We have an exposure to the retail and institutional side of the market. In addition, we have an investment banking team as well, in which everything has been created over a period of 30 months.?
E*Trade follows a different business model. They do not have a research team. They outsource research and are more of an execution broker, than a full investment bank, in terms of the institutional and retail search, and investment banking activity. With our research, we will be able to give it to institutional clients of E*Trade and also offers in IPOs and various deals, that we bring about will be able to be distributed to those clients as well.
Integration of new processes in any organization takes time. E*Trade is testing Investsmart for adoption of its technology and marketing processes. Bringing about a whole mindset change is not going to be easy. How is E*Trade going to manage that?
Leslie Whiteford, MD and CEO, IL&FS Investsmart, has over 25 years of experience in the financial services sector. He comes with 18 years of experience with E*Trade?s operations. A chartered accountant by profession, Leslie brings the rich expertise of the global financial markets into the country. Having acquired several companies, he knows exactly what integration is all about. what his plans for India?
Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's interview with Leslie Whiteford:
Q: Why did you choose IL&FS?
A: When we were introduced to IL&FS, we found a company that shared some of the values that we have in our business. Basically, it is an offering to the customer of competitive priced products, with a superior level of service and traditional core values.
Q: E*Trade would also be bringing in and changing a lot of processes at Investsmart and that means a kind of mindset change. How has it been till now?
A: The one thing I found is that the management and the employees here have been very receptive to new ideas coming in, new approaches and new styles, in terms of implementing and executing it. Yes, anything new is uncomfortable. But I think they have coped very well in doing that.
I would say the main changes we are bringing in, is a greater amount of discipline around the business processes and decision-making. There are vast opportunities out there in the marketplace and it is impossible to go for every single opportunity that exists.
Similarly, in terms of technology development, you have got a limited pool of technology resources to be pulled from. You have to formally evaluate which one to do. So, rather than being driven by the emotion or whoever is the most powerful personality, to get their project done ahead of someone else?s project, we have brought in a greater discipline of evaluating what the returns are, based on some of the technology developments.
Q: Have they been fast to adapt to your kind of technology changes, has there been any kind of integration issues?
A: They have been fast to adapt and accept the vision. I think where you are taking management out of a frontline business position into more of a product development area, they feel that they have lost a little bit and have moved away from the edge.
Change is uncomfortable, but I think they all believe in the fact that this discipline does position us well for the dramatic growth that we are expected to see in the marketplace.
Q: So what are the kinds of changes that you are going to bring here to see that Investsmart also becomes a kind of a diversified financial services company?
A: Let me deal first with the online sector. I think the Indian investor is still very much in its infancy, in terms of the developments of the marketplace here. Look for the human touch, human support, human advice and the validations of what they want to do. And quite clearly that is why we have seen the broad rollout of the branch structures and the franchisees structure, that we share with many of the other participants in the marketplace.
The online space is going to come at a later point in time. So, in the interim, we can use our technology to deliver the tools to our employees in the branches, to enable them to provide better, more efficient, faster advice to the customers that they are serving.
The first space would be giving better tools to enable our relationship managers, our customer service representatives to provide the best service to the Indian investor and ultimately to allow the Indian investor to take control of a lot of these things themselves.
Q: What is the kind of branding exercise that you have planned for Investsmart? Are you going to do some name change?
A: IL&FS Investsmart is known as a financial multiplex and has multiple products within its product suite. The challenge that we face is that they were all running on separate platforms. So, it was almost like running eight separate businesses. So, if you had 1 customer who wanted say eight products, he could have eight different customer experiences. So, from our point of view, we wanted to integrate the product offering, not only in terms of the back office platforms, of bringing them together; but also in terms of front office.
The customer service representatives, the relationship manager could see on a single position all the areas that an investor and customer engaged with the firm.
So, getting that technology up and running and solid and making sure that it is scalable is where we have been focusing for the past few months and really just trying to shape our vision.
Moving on to the branding, you obviously don?t want to go in and create a brand and spend the dollars, until you feel that your infrastructure is there to support the product and service and you feel that you are marketing to your customer. So, we are just at the stage of moving into that era. I think the challenge for the marketing agencies is to take three very different brands and bringing them together, each standing for something that means something to different types of investor groups. So, we are still at the stage of formulating and how we are going to do that.
A: I wouldn?t see it so much as catching up. It is always a challenge to pick what the right time is to enter into a marketplace. If you were to consider that our main expertise is in the area of technology and online applications, compared to our peer group, we are well ahead. We are the only one of our peer group in the US, that are expanding internationally. So, that is looking it at from our peer group and the position in that space.
In terms of the Indian marketplace, there are still many foreign brokerages coming into India and increasing their stakes with partners in the Indian marketplace. We have been in for about two years. So, we are not that far behind.
We have been taking our time and making sure that we have got our positioning right. We have got our vision and our strategy right. We are all pretty firm and agreed on that space.
In November 2007 , the MD is still optimistic.
19/11/2007 interview with Leslie Whiteford Economic Times
Don’t you think E-Trade is entering the Indian market at the peak of the bull-run?
The stock market index may be near its historic high, but there is still immense growth potential in India. Retail investors have only begun to invest in equity and online trading in India is still in its infancy, compared to the US where E-Trade enjoys a leadership position and continues to grow. But there are greater growth opportunities outside the US and the decision to enter India is part of E-Trade’s international strategy to tap this opportunity. We have already obtained 17 licenses around the world and have a presence in a number of European and Asian markets. Early this year, E-Trade started operations in Dubai and Singapore and it has been in Hong Kong for a while. E-Trade is watching China, but the country has tight restrictions for foreign brokerages.
Does E-Trade wants to look at the Indian market beyond being a broking entity? Do you have any plans to set up a bank or MF or any insurance company at a later date?
Within the IL&FS Investsmart group, we already have a non-banking finance company and can offer a comprehensive financial solution to our clients. IL&FS group already offers margin-financing, loan against securities, IPO financing, loans for mutual funds and other related facilities. In the US, one of the drivers for E-Trade’s growth was the successful integration of the banking and brokerage businesses. IIL can’t bring that level of integration in India right now due to regulatory restrictions.
There are restrictions on foreigners entering the banking sector and on banks lending to the capital market, which make it challenging for IIL to fully replicate the E-Trade US model. The norms are expected to be liberalised in ’09, which will provide us an attractive opportunity.
Our business model will balance the regulatory restrictions with the needs of our customers. We don’t have any real desire to foray into the mutual fund (asset management) or insurance business beyond our existing advisory and broking business at the moment. Our focus right now is on the advisory and trading side of the business and we would rather build scale in that segment.
http://news.moneycontrol.com/mccode/news/article/news_article.php?autono=311930
http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/EFX_dll/EDGARpro.dll?FetchFilingHTML1?SessionID=BjZDCmmKL9kTjyu&ID=4708527 - Form 8K of Etrade dated 18 October 2006
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET_Features/Investors_Guide/Indias_the_place_to_be_in/articleshow/msid-2549456,curpg-1.cms 19-11-2007
Investsmart is a financial services company engaged in intermediation of financial products and financial advisory services for retail, institutional investors, and corporates. It also forayed into merchant banking and commodity broking business, besides distribution of insurance products. Such impressive parentage helped the company in the early days to get good institutional clients. But overall the financials were not looking very attractive.
In 2,000, ORIX Corporation, an integrated financial services group based in Tokyo, picked up 27.59% stake in the company. The same year it launched its fully functional website, investsmartindia.com. In January 2002, it amalgamated IL&FS Merchant Banking Services and DebtonNet India with IL&FS Investsmart.
These consolidation exercises were taken to build a strong balance sheet and to prepare itself for the future. After its public issue at Rs 125 in July 2005, the scrip is still hovering at around Rs 170-200 for the last two years. For instance in 2006-07, both its topline and bottomline took a hit in view of the stagnant growth and branch expansion exercises. It set up 37 new branches.
Revenue rose marginally by 7% from Rs 224 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 241 crore in 2006-07. Similarly, operating profit dipped to Rs 70 crore from Rs 117 crore in the previous year. But with E*Trade as its partner, the future will surely not be a mirror of the past. Already there are visible signs of change. A comparison of retail revenues for 2006-07 and the current six months, gives a clear picture of this change. These figures held the shape of things to come.
E*Trade reported net revenues of USD 2.4 billion or Rs 9,600 crore in 2006 with net income of USD 629 million or Rs 2,500 crore. It manages retail client assets worth USD 194.9 billion and customer cash and deposits at USD 33.6 billion in 2006. E*Trade has grown through the acquisitions route. It did three major acquisitions between 2005-06. So, what did a big player like E*Trade see in IL&FS?
Devinjit Singh, Head-Investment Banking, Mergers & Acquisitions India, said, ?Well in that particular case, I guess there were two or three things which E*Trade was looking to achieve. The first was to be able to acquire a business which had customers. Second, was to acquire an established platform for the distribution of its products. Third, was an access to the management that Investsmart had built. All of which probably proved appealing to E*Trade to establish and grow its business in India.?
Etrade did not suddenly acquire Investsmart. It came in when SAIF Investment Company, Mauritius, an affiliate of Soft Bank Corporation USA decided to have an Indian presence. Soft Bank was also a stakeholder in E*Trade. So, E*Trade too decided to take up 14% stake in Investsmart while SAIF took a 20% stake. That was in January 2005. In July 2005, the company came out with an IPO issue where stakes got diluted. A GDR issue closely followed this in December 2005.
After getting a taste of the Indian market for over one year, E*Trade felt it opportune to raise its stake further to 43% in March. E*Trade increased stake to 17.86% while subscribing to Investsmart?s GDR issue in December 2005, further increased stake to 37% by purchase of GDRs from the secondary market and then acquired 6% through open offer.
*(Announced a tender offer for an additional 20 percent of the shares of IL&FS Investsmart Limited, one of India's leading financial services organizations, providing a complete range of Financial Management Solutions for Retail and Institutional customers(July-September 2006)
This now makes it a core partner with IL&FS having a 29% stake. By beginning of 2006, not only did Investsmart have a strong partner in E*Trade but also oodles of cash to expand its business. Its kitty was Rs 550 crore, of this Rs 440 crore came from GDR proceeds and the balance Rs 110 crore from IPO. That money is now going to change the dynamics of the business.
Sachin Joshi, ED-Finance and Operations, IL&FS Investsmart, said, ?The purpose of having the GDR and IPO was to go in for major expansion for branches and mobilise resources which could be utilized to undertake securities and securities related financing activity. With E*Trade coming in as a strategic partner, we could also look at few acquisitions over a period of time. We mobilized about Rs 550 crore out of the IPO and GDR proceeds. Add to that our own network, today we have about Rs 750 crore of surplus cash available in the system, out of which at least Rs 650 crore could be utilized to do all these activities and change the face of the balance sheet.
Besides money muscle, Investsmart now has huge marketing and technological benefits by partnering with E*Trade. It will change the way Investsmart does business. Investsmart can now rely heavily on the expertise developed by E*Trade in developing brand architecture, marketing strategies, and tools to position the company as a dominant player in the domestic market.
More than operational expertise, what E*Trade Financial brought to the table was the experience of surviving the boom-bust cycle. This fast growing brokerage firm suffered red ink in its balance sheet in 2001, when the dotcom bubble went bust. But E*Trade survived all of that, and it bounced back with full vigour. This rich experience is what E*Trade now brings to Investsmart.
How E*Trade changed the way business was done at Investsmart?
To start with, it adopted its global policy of focused strategy and focused execution. What E*Trade brought to the table was its strategy behind providing the products. Customer service, branding, and technology all of these will give Investsmart a competitive edge.
What E*Trade brings on the customer side is focus. Till E*Trade came into the picture, Investsmart was trying to cater to all kinds of customers like low-end, middle-level, and high-end. Catering to people at all levels meant precious time spent on servicing low-end customers, thereby losing a high-end customer. Now, all of that will change.
Sandeep Presswala, ED-Retail Business, IL&FS Investsmart, said, ?One of the very important things that has happened post E*Trade coming was that they used to have a fairly defined customer focus. We have identified the mass affluent as a customer audience where we want to define all our focus and energies on. We see the segment as a fairly important segment in our scheme of things as we go forward. Looking at the growth of the service sector and looking at the growth of corporate India mass affluent, which is the most important segment in our customer segmentation strategy, is going to be the key focus area for our business going forward. Once you have a customer focus at the center of your business strategy, everything revolves around that.
But finally what matters is making the right call in a volatile and global market. That is only possible by good research back up. In a globalised India, where the economy is impacted by international events, financial research cannot be done on a standalone basis, but has to be done on a consolidated basis. Investsmart realized this two years ago.
According Sreesankar R, Head of Research, IL&FS Investsmart, they have a strong research team out here and we have created a team of around 22 people right now in India.
We have an exposure to the retail and institutional side of the market. In addition, we have an investment banking team as well, in which everything has been created over a period of 30 months.?
E*Trade follows a different business model. They do not have a research team. They outsource research and are more of an execution broker, than a full investment bank, in terms of the institutional and retail search, and investment banking activity. With our research, we will be able to give it to institutional clients of E*Trade and also offers in IPOs and various deals, that we bring about will be able to be distributed to those clients as well.
Integration of new processes in any organization takes time. E*Trade is testing Investsmart for adoption of its technology and marketing processes. Bringing about a whole mindset change is not going to be easy. How is E*Trade going to manage that?
Leslie Whiteford, MD and CEO, IL&FS Investsmart, has over 25 years of experience in the financial services sector. He comes with 18 years of experience with E*Trade?s operations. A chartered accountant by profession, Leslie brings the rich expertise of the global financial markets into the country. Having acquired several companies, he knows exactly what integration is all about. what his plans for India?
Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's interview with Leslie Whiteford:
Q: Why did you choose IL&FS?
A: When we were introduced to IL&FS, we found a company that shared some of the values that we have in our business. Basically, it is an offering to the customer of competitive priced products, with a superior level of service and traditional core values.
Q: E*Trade would also be bringing in and changing a lot of processes at Investsmart and that means a kind of mindset change. How has it been till now?
A: The one thing I found is that the management and the employees here have been very receptive to new ideas coming in, new approaches and new styles, in terms of implementing and executing it. Yes, anything new is uncomfortable. But I think they have coped very well in doing that.
I would say the main changes we are bringing in, is a greater amount of discipline around the business processes and decision-making. There are vast opportunities out there in the marketplace and it is impossible to go for every single opportunity that exists.
Similarly, in terms of technology development, you have got a limited pool of technology resources to be pulled from. You have to formally evaluate which one to do. So, rather than being driven by the emotion or whoever is the most powerful personality, to get their project done ahead of someone else?s project, we have brought in a greater discipline of evaluating what the returns are, based on some of the technology developments.
Q: Have they been fast to adapt to your kind of technology changes, has there been any kind of integration issues?
A: They have been fast to adapt and accept the vision. I think where you are taking management out of a frontline business position into more of a product development area, they feel that they have lost a little bit and have moved away from the edge.
Change is uncomfortable, but I think they all believe in the fact that this discipline does position us well for the dramatic growth that we are expected to see in the marketplace.
Q: So what are the kinds of changes that you are going to bring here to see that Investsmart also becomes a kind of a diversified financial services company?
A: Let me deal first with the online sector. I think the Indian investor is still very much in its infancy, in terms of the developments of the marketplace here. Look for the human touch, human support, human advice and the validations of what they want to do. And quite clearly that is why we have seen the broad rollout of the branch structures and the franchisees structure, that we share with many of the other participants in the marketplace.
The online space is going to come at a later point in time. So, in the interim, we can use our technology to deliver the tools to our employees in the branches, to enable them to provide better, more efficient, faster advice to the customers that they are serving.
The first space would be giving better tools to enable our relationship managers, our customer service representatives to provide the best service to the Indian investor and ultimately to allow the Indian investor to take control of a lot of these things themselves.
Q: What is the kind of branding exercise that you have planned for Investsmart? Are you going to do some name change?
A: IL&FS Investsmart is known as a financial multiplex and has multiple products within its product suite. The challenge that we face is that they were all running on separate platforms. So, it was almost like running eight separate businesses. So, if you had 1 customer who wanted say eight products, he could have eight different customer experiences. So, from our point of view, we wanted to integrate the product offering, not only in terms of the back office platforms, of bringing them together; but also in terms of front office.
The customer service representatives, the relationship manager could see on a single position all the areas that an investor and customer engaged with the firm.
So, getting that technology up and running and solid and making sure that it is scalable is where we have been focusing for the past few months and really just trying to shape our vision.
Moving on to the branding, you obviously don?t want to go in and create a brand and spend the dollars, until you feel that your infrastructure is there to support the product and service and you feel that you are marketing to your customer. So, we are just at the stage of moving into that era. I think the challenge for the marketing agencies is to take three very different brands and bringing them together, each standing for something that means something to different types of investor groups. So, we are still at the stage of formulating and how we are going to do that.
A: I wouldn?t see it so much as catching up. It is always a challenge to pick what the right time is to enter into a marketplace. If you were to consider that our main expertise is in the area of technology and online applications, compared to our peer group, we are well ahead. We are the only one of our peer group in the US, that are expanding internationally. So, that is looking it at from our peer group and the position in that space.
In terms of the Indian marketplace, there are still many foreign brokerages coming into India and increasing their stakes with partners in the Indian marketplace. We have been in for about two years. So, we are not that far behind.
We have been taking our time and making sure that we have got our positioning right. We have got our vision and our strategy right. We are all pretty firm and agreed on that space.
In November 2007 , the MD is still optimistic.
19/11/2007 interview with Leslie Whiteford Economic Times
Don’t you think E-Trade is entering the Indian market at the peak of the bull-run?
The stock market index may be near its historic high, but there is still immense growth potential in India. Retail investors have only begun to invest in equity and online trading in India is still in its infancy, compared to the US where E-Trade enjoys a leadership position and continues to grow. But there are greater growth opportunities outside the US and the decision to enter India is part of E-Trade’s international strategy to tap this opportunity. We have already obtained 17 licenses around the world and have a presence in a number of European and Asian markets. Early this year, E-Trade started operations in Dubai and Singapore and it has been in Hong Kong for a while. E-Trade is watching China, but the country has tight restrictions for foreign brokerages.
Does E-Trade wants to look at the Indian market beyond being a broking entity? Do you have any plans to set up a bank or MF or any insurance company at a later date?
Within the IL&FS Investsmart group, we already have a non-banking finance company and can offer a comprehensive financial solution to our clients. IL&FS group already offers margin-financing, loan against securities, IPO financing, loans for mutual funds and other related facilities. In the US, one of the drivers for E-Trade’s growth was the successful integration of the banking and brokerage businesses. IIL can’t bring that level of integration in India right now due to regulatory restrictions.
There are restrictions on foreigners entering the banking sector and on banks lending to the capital market, which make it challenging for IIL to fully replicate the E-Trade US model. The norms are expected to be liberalised in ’09, which will provide us an attractive opportunity.
Our business model will balance the regulatory restrictions with the needs of our customers. We don’t have any real desire to foray into the mutual fund (asset management) or insurance business beyond our existing advisory and broking business at the moment. Our focus right now is on the advisory and trading side of the business and we would rather build scale in that segment.
http://news.moneycontrol.com/mccode/news/article/news_article.php?autono=311930
http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/EFX_dll/EDGARpro.dll?FetchFilingHTML1?SessionID=BjZDCmmKL9kTjyu&ID=4708527 - Form 8K of Etrade dated 18 October 2006
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET_Features/Investors_Guide/Indias_the_place_to_be_in/articleshow/msid-2549456,curpg-1.cms 19-11-2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Merrill Lynch Mergers Acquisitions
Amsterdam / New York, 02 April 2004
ABN AMRO finalises sale of US Professional Brokerage unit to Merrill Lynch
ABN AMRO today announced that it has finalised the sale of its US based Professional Brokerage business to Merrill Lynch & Co.
Following the completion of final documentation and regulatory approval, Merrill Lynch has acquired ABN AMRO's securities clearing, trade execution and operational support services for participants in the US options and securities markets.
This decision has been taken as part of ABN AMRO's strategy to focus increased resources on a more limited range of core activities within its Wholesale Clients (WCS) strategic business unit and to ensure its product offering is fully aligned with the bank's client led model.
http://www.abnamro.com/pressroom/releases/2004/2004-04-02-en.jsp
-------------------------------
Merrill Lynch Announces Minority Investment in GSO Capital Partners L.P.
Contact us about this press release
NEW YORK, May 21, 2007 — Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) today announced that it has agreed to purchase a minority stake in GSO Capital Partners L.P. ("GSO"), a New York-based registered investment management firm. As part of the transaction, Merrill Lynch will invest capital in a number of GSO's strategies. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"GSO has a uniquely talented team of investment professionals who have extensive expertise in the leveraged finance marketplace," said Greg Fleming, co-president of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. "We look forward to working together to grow their firm by utilizing the global resources of Merrill Lynch."
"Merrill Lynch has world-class franchises in products and geographies that are very relevant to our investment strategies," said Bennett Goodman, senior managing partner of GSO. "We look forward to collaborating with them on future projects."
"This investment in GSO is a continuation of our strategy to invest in best-in-class alternative investment managers worldwide," said Rohit D'Souza, head of Global Alternative Investments and global head of Equities at Merrill Lynch.
About Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies with, offices in 37 countries and territories and total client assets of approximately $1.6 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Merrill Lynch owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management companies, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.
About GSO
GSO is a registered alternative investment manager with approximately $8 billion in assets under management and offices in New York, London, Houston and Los Angeles. GSO was founded in July 2005 by Bennett Goodman, Tripp Smith and Doug Ostrover. The firm draws on the skills and experience of its 115 employees worldwide to invest in a broad array of public and private securities across multiple investment strategies. Key areas of focus include leveraged loans, distressed investments, special situations, capital structure arbitrage, mezzanine securities and private equity. GSO manages capital on behalf of insurance companies, banks, pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices and fund of funds.
Bennett J. Goodman is the senior managing partner of GSO. Prior to forming GSO, Mr. Goodman was the managing partner of the Alternative Capital Division of Credit Suisse First Boston ("CSFB"). This division consisted of CSFB's global private equity and hedge funds groups with over $30 billion of assets under management. Previously, Mr. Goodman was the global head of Leveraged Finance at CSFB and was a member of the firm's Executive Board and Management Council. Prior to CSFB, Mr. Goodman was at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette ("DLJ") where he helped establish the high yield bond business and served as global gead of the Leveraged Finance Group. Prior to joining DLJ, he was a vice president in the high yield group at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. Goodman is on the board of directors at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Cancer Research Institute and the American Jewish Committee (Westchester Chapter) and has served on the board of the Big Apple Circus. In 2004, Mr. Goodman received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Euromoney for his accomplishments in the capital markets. Mr. Goodman holds an engineering degree from Lafayette College and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
Tripp Smith is a managing partner of GSO. Prior to founding GSO, Mr. Smith was global head of the Capital Markets Group within the Alternative Capital Division of CSFB since June 2004. The Capital Markets Group has $16 billion of assets under management including Credit Suisse's Credit Opportunities Fund, Mezzanine Investment Fund, CDO business and Hedge Fund-of-Fund business. Prior to that, Mr. Smith was a managing director and global co-head of the Leveraged Finance Group. His responsibilities included the coordination of CSFB's global origination, distribution and trading activities relating to high yield securities, leveraged loans, high yield credit derivatives and distressed securities. Additionally, Mr. Smith was a member of the Investment Banking Operating Committee, Fixed Income Operating Committee and co-chair of the Bank/High Yield Finance Committee. He was also a member of CSFB's Management Council. Mr. Smith joined CSFB in November 2000 when CSFB merged with DLJ, where he was global head of High Yield Capital Markets. Mr. Smith had been a member of DLJ's high yield team since he joined the firm in 1993. Prior to that, he worked for Smith Barney and Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. Smith received a B.B.A. in accounting from the University of Notre Dame.
Douglas I. Ostrover is a managing partner of GSO. Prior to founding GSO, Mr. Ostrover was formerly a managing director of CSFB and chairman of the Leveraged Finance Group. Prior to that, he was global co-head of the Leveraged Finance Group. He was responsible for all of CSFB's origination, distribution and trading activities relating to high yield securities, leveraged loans, high yield credit derivatives and distressed securities. Mr. Ostrover was a member of CSFB's Management Council and the Fixed Income Operating Committee. Mr. Ostrover joined CSFB in November 2000 when CSFB merged with DLJ, where he was a managing director in charge of High Yield and Distressed Sales, Trading and Research. Mr. Ostrover had been a member of DLJ's high yield team since he joined the firm in 1992. Mr. Ostrover is on the board of directors of the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Mr. Ostrover received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business of New York University.
Merrill Lynch may make forward-looking statements, including, for example, statements about management expectations, strategic objectives, growth opportunities, business prospects, investment banking pipelines, anticipated financial results, the impact of off-balance-sheet arrangements, significant contractual obligations, anticipated results of litigation and regulatory investigations and proceedings, and other similar matters. These forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts and represent only Merrill Lynch's beliefs regarding future performance, which is inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors, many of which are beyond Merrill Lynch's control, which affect the operations, performance, business strategy and results and could cause its actual results and experience to differ materially from the expectations and objectives expressed in any forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, financial market volatility; actions and initiatives taken by current and potential competitors; general economic conditions; the effect of current, pending and future legislation, regulation, and regulatory actions; and the other additional factors described in the Risk Factors section of Merrill Lynch's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2006, and also disclosed from time to time in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and 8-K, which are available on the Merrill Lynch Investor Relations website at www.ir.ml.com and at the SEC's website, www.sec.gov.
Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Merrill Lynch does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the date the forward-looking statements are made. The reader should, however, consult any further disclosures Merrill Lynch may make in its future filings of its reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K.
contacts
Contact Media Contact:
Terez Hanhan 212.449.2004
Terez_Hanhan@ml.com
Investor Contact:
Jonathan Blum 866.607.1234
investor_relations@ml.com
http://www.merrilllynch.com/index.asp?id=7695_7696_8149_74412_77891_78628
--------------
ABN AMRO finalises sale of US Professional Brokerage unit to Merrill Lynch
ABN AMRO today announced that it has finalised the sale of its US based Professional Brokerage business to Merrill Lynch & Co.
Following the completion of final documentation and regulatory approval, Merrill Lynch has acquired ABN AMRO's securities clearing, trade execution and operational support services for participants in the US options and securities markets.
This decision has been taken as part of ABN AMRO's strategy to focus increased resources on a more limited range of core activities within its Wholesale Clients (WCS) strategic business unit and to ensure its product offering is fully aligned with the bank's client led model.
http://www.abnamro.com/pressroom/releases/2004/2004-04-02-en.jsp
-------------------------------
Merrill Lynch Announces Minority Investment in GSO Capital Partners L.P.
Contact us about this press release
NEW YORK, May 21, 2007 — Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) today announced that it has agreed to purchase a minority stake in GSO Capital Partners L.P. ("GSO"), a New York-based registered investment management firm. As part of the transaction, Merrill Lynch will invest capital in a number of GSO's strategies. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"GSO has a uniquely talented team of investment professionals who have extensive expertise in the leveraged finance marketplace," said Greg Fleming, co-president of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. "We look forward to working together to grow their firm by utilizing the global resources of Merrill Lynch."
"Merrill Lynch has world-class franchises in products and geographies that are very relevant to our investment strategies," said Bennett Goodman, senior managing partner of GSO. "We look forward to collaborating with them on future projects."
"This investment in GSO is a continuation of our strategy to invest in best-in-class alternative investment managers worldwide," said Rohit D'Souza, head of Global Alternative Investments and global head of Equities at Merrill Lynch.
About Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies with, offices in 37 countries and territories and total client assets of approximately $1.6 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Merrill Lynch owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management companies, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.
About GSO
GSO is a registered alternative investment manager with approximately $8 billion in assets under management and offices in New York, London, Houston and Los Angeles. GSO was founded in July 2005 by Bennett Goodman, Tripp Smith and Doug Ostrover. The firm draws on the skills and experience of its 115 employees worldwide to invest in a broad array of public and private securities across multiple investment strategies. Key areas of focus include leveraged loans, distressed investments, special situations, capital structure arbitrage, mezzanine securities and private equity. GSO manages capital on behalf of insurance companies, banks, pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices and fund of funds.
Bennett J. Goodman is the senior managing partner of GSO. Prior to forming GSO, Mr. Goodman was the managing partner of the Alternative Capital Division of Credit Suisse First Boston ("CSFB"). This division consisted of CSFB's global private equity and hedge funds groups with over $30 billion of assets under management. Previously, Mr. Goodman was the global head of Leveraged Finance at CSFB and was a member of the firm's Executive Board and Management Council. Prior to CSFB, Mr. Goodman was at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette ("DLJ") where he helped establish the high yield bond business and served as global gead of the Leveraged Finance Group. Prior to joining DLJ, he was a vice president in the high yield group at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. Goodman is on the board of directors at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Cancer Research Institute and the American Jewish Committee (Westchester Chapter) and has served on the board of the Big Apple Circus. In 2004, Mr. Goodman received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Euromoney for his accomplishments in the capital markets. Mr. Goodman holds an engineering degree from Lafayette College and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
Tripp Smith is a managing partner of GSO. Prior to founding GSO, Mr. Smith was global head of the Capital Markets Group within the Alternative Capital Division of CSFB since June 2004. The Capital Markets Group has $16 billion of assets under management including Credit Suisse's Credit Opportunities Fund, Mezzanine Investment Fund, CDO business and Hedge Fund-of-Fund business. Prior to that, Mr. Smith was a managing director and global co-head of the Leveraged Finance Group. His responsibilities included the coordination of CSFB's global origination, distribution and trading activities relating to high yield securities, leveraged loans, high yield credit derivatives and distressed securities. Additionally, Mr. Smith was a member of the Investment Banking Operating Committee, Fixed Income Operating Committee and co-chair of the Bank/High Yield Finance Committee. He was also a member of CSFB's Management Council. Mr. Smith joined CSFB in November 2000 when CSFB merged with DLJ, where he was global head of High Yield Capital Markets. Mr. Smith had been a member of DLJ's high yield team since he joined the firm in 1993. Prior to that, he worked for Smith Barney and Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. Smith received a B.B.A. in accounting from the University of Notre Dame.
Douglas I. Ostrover is a managing partner of GSO. Prior to founding GSO, Mr. Ostrover was formerly a managing director of CSFB and chairman of the Leveraged Finance Group. Prior to that, he was global co-head of the Leveraged Finance Group. He was responsible for all of CSFB's origination, distribution and trading activities relating to high yield securities, leveraged loans, high yield credit derivatives and distressed securities. Mr. Ostrover was a member of CSFB's Management Council and the Fixed Income Operating Committee. Mr. Ostrover joined CSFB in November 2000 when CSFB merged with DLJ, where he was a managing director in charge of High Yield and Distressed Sales, Trading and Research. Mr. Ostrover had been a member of DLJ's high yield team since he joined the firm in 1992. Mr. Ostrover is on the board of directors of the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Mr. Ostrover received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business of New York University.
Merrill Lynch may make forward-looking statements, including, for example, statements about management expectations, strategic objectives, growth opportunities, business prospects, investment banking pipelines, anticipated financial results, the impact of off-balance-sheet arrangements, significant contractual obligations, anticipated results of litigation and regulatory investigations and proceedings, and other similar matters. These forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts and represent only Merrill Lynch's beliefs regarding future performance, which is inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors, many of which are beyond Merrill Lynch's control, which affect the operations, performance, business strategy and results and could cause its actual results and experience to differ materially from the expectations and objectives expressed in any forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, financial market volatility; actions and initiatives taken by current and potential competitors; general economic conditions; the effect of current, pending and future legislation, regulation, and regulatory actions; and the other additional factors described in the Risk Factors section of Merrill Lynch's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2006, and also disclosed from time to time in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and 8-K, which are available on the Merrill Lynch Investor Relations website at www.ir.ml.com and at the SEC's website, www.sec.gov.
Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Merrill Lynch does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the date the forward-looking statements are made. The reader should, however, consult any further disclosures Merrill Lynch may make in its future filings of its reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K.
contacts
Contact Media Contact:
Terez Hanhan 212.449.2004
Terez_Hanhan@ml.com
Investor Contact:
Jonathan Blum 866.607.1234
investor_relations@ml.com
http://www.merrilllynch.com/index.asp?id=7695_7696_8149_74412_77891_78628
--------------
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Mergers Security Market Intermediaries - Major Companies
Following are some of the major mergers and acquisitions of some of the major brokerage firms. Also inclusive are important alliances as well as interesting connections to different industries, also included are CEOs of these corporations.
DEAN WITTER
1929- Merges with Duisenburg, Wichman & Co.
1939- Acquires Bissinger & Co.
1940- Acquires W.M. Cavalier & Co.
1941- Acquires Lieb, Keyston & Co.
1953- Buys Harris, Hall & Co.
1957- Acquires Central Republic Co.
1959- Acquires Laurence M. Marks & Co.
1970- Merges with J. Barth & Co.
1973- Merges with Laird, Bissell & Meeds.
1977- Acquires InterCapital from S&P 500, (mutual fund offering).
1978- Merges with Reynolds & Co. in New York, largest merger to date in the securities industry.
1981- Joins the Sears/Roebuck Coalition.
MORGAN STANELY
1971- establishes a Merger and Acquisition Division, (mainly overseeing deals rather than engaging in any).
1995- Acquires Miller Anderson & Sherrerd.
1996- Buys Van Kampen American Capital, (a mutual fund company).
MORGAN STANLEY and DEAN WITTER
1997- Morgan Stanley Group and Dean Witter/Discover & Co. merge. Becomes one of the largest multinational corporations geared to financial services.
1999- Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. acquires AB Asesores, the largest Spanish financial institution. Forms an Alliance with National Bank of Kuwait. Colin Powell and Morgan Stanley announce first-ever brokerage firm dedicated to America’s Promise, (investing for American government).
2000- Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. acquires Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services, (makes Morgan Stanley one of the largest owners of aircraft worldwide).
-Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. appears as #11 on the Forbes 500 list, 2001
http://www.forbes.com/
-Info from http://www.morganstanley.com/
-Philip Purcell, CEO of MSDW is #11 on Forbes Top CEO’s list, 2001.
MERRILL LYNCH (ML)
1940- ML merges with E.A. Pierce & Cassatt, (brokerage firm + investment bank).
1941- ML merges with Fenner & Beane.
1964- ML buys C.J. Devine, (starts to deal government insurance securities).
1978- ML acquires White and Weld Co, (an international investment firm and helps expand ML overseas).
1995- ML acquires Smith New Court and becomes the largest equity organization in the world.
1996- ML acquires Hotchkis and Wiley.
1997- ML acquires McIntosh Securities Limited a major Australian brokerage firm.
1997- Total assets in private accounts top $1 trillion.
1999- ML partnership with Multex.com to develop e-trading.
2000- ML partnership with English HSBC is made, (launches global e-trading). ML and Bloomberg information group announce partnership. Comes together with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter to launch new electronic market with the support of the major investment firms.
-Merrill Lynch appears as #23 on the Forbes 500 list, 2001 http://www.forbes.com/
-Info concerning ML see the homepage @ http://www.ml.com/
-David Komansky, CEO of ML-HSBC is #35 on Forbes Top CEO’s, 2001.
CHARLES SCHWAB (CS)
Schwab, a relatively new company (1970), hasn’t had any significant mergers to date.
1980-1983- BankAmerica Corp. buys Schwab.
1987- Charles Schwab (person) buys it back from BankAmerica Corp. and takes it public.
2001- Establishes an alliance with TD Waterhouse to acquire Aitken Campbell, (a Scottish marketing firm).
Schwab has resolved to be “different” from its competitors, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, et al. They want to be a more personal brokerage firm, encouraging personal advisors and resisting the merger movement in the financial industry.
-Info from http://www.businessweek.com/1998/21/b3579181.htm concerning business ideals and resisting mergers, for more info on Schwab visit this site.
-For info on Charles Schwab visit http://www.aboutschwab.com/ and http://www.forbes.com/ (concerning company information).
-Charles Schwab, CEO of CS, appears #47 on Forbes Top CEO’s list, 2001.
SALOMON SMITH BARNEY
Charles Barney and Edward Smith combine their firms in the 1800s.
1987- First major deal in company history, Primerica Corp. buys Smith Barney and Harris Upham & Co. Inc.
1993 July- Smith Barney operations combined with Shearson Lehman Brothers within the Primerica Corp.
1993 December- Smith Barney becomes subsidiary of Traveler’s Group after Primerica’s acquisition of the Traveler’s Corp.
1997- Smith Barney Holdings Inc. combined with Salomon Inc. and becomes known as Salomon Smith Barney Holdings Inc.
1998- Citicorp and Traveler’s Croup merge to create Citigroup, this is one of the largest if not the largest merger within the financial industry. This merger includes Citibank, Salomon Smith Barney, Traveler’s Insurance, Primerica Corp, and Commercial Credit (CitiFinancial).
-For info on Citigroup and its subsidiaries see http://www.citigroup.com/
-For Salomon Smith Barney company information see their homepage http://www.salomonsmithbarney.com/ or http://www.forbes.com/
-Sanford Weill, CEO of Citigroup, appears #1 on Forbes Top CEO’s list, 2001.
GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP (GS)
1998- GS acquires Spear, Leeds & Kellogg.
1999- Goldman Sachs acquires Hull Group, (an electric market-maker).
2001- Goldman Sachs buys Benjamin Jacobson & Sons LLC.
Goldman Sachs is an investment company with a staunch commitment to advising Mergers & Acquisitions between companies. Throughout its history it has mainly advised M&A’s rather than participating in them.
-For information on Goldman Sachs Group and its subsidiaries see http://www.hoovers.com/co/capsule/6/0,2163,40176,00.html and http://www.gs.com/
-Henry Paulson Jr., CEO of Goldman Sachs Group, appears #70 on Forbes Top CEO’s, 2001.
-Goldman Sachs Group appears #24 on Forbes 500 List, 2001. http://www.forbes.com/
PAINE WEBBER (PW)
· 1942- Charles Jackson and Laurence Curtis & Co. merge with William Paine and Wallace Webber to form Paine Webber.
· 1972- PW acquires Abacus Fund Inc., (an investment company).
· 1977- PW acquires Mitchell Hutchins Inc.
· 1979- PW acquires Blyth, Eastman Dillon & Co., (a company that was founded by Dean Witter and Charles Blyth).
· 1995- PW acquires Kidder Peabody group from the General Electric Company.
· 2000- UBS AG, a Swiss bank, acquires Paine Webber to create UBS Paine Webber.
-For more information concerning UBS AG or Paine Webber visit http://painewebber.com/ or http://www.forbes.com/
DEAN WITTER
1929- Merges with Duisenburg, Wichman & Co.
1939- Acquires Bissinger & Co.
1940- Acquires W.M. Cavalier & Co.
1941- Acquires Lieb, Keyston & Co.
1953- Buys Harris, Hall & Co.
1957- Acquires Central Republic Co.
1959- Acquires Laurence M. Marks & Co.
1970- Merges with J. Barth & Co.
1973- Merges with Laird, Bissell & Meeds.
1977- Acquires InterCapital from S&P 500, (mutual fund offering).
1978- Merges with Reynolds & Co. in New York, largest merger to date in the securities industry.
1981- Joins the Sears/Roebuck Coalition.
MORGAN STANELY
1971- establishes a Merger and Acquisition Division, (mainly overseeing deals rather than engaging in any).
1995- Acquires Miller Anderson & Sherrerd.
1996- Buys Van Kampen American Capital, (a mutual fund company).
MORGAN STANLEY and DEAN WITTER
1997- Morgan Stanley Group and Dean Witter/Discover & Co. merge. Becomes one of the largest multinational corporations geared to financial services.
1999- Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. acquires AB Asesores, the largest Spanish financial institution. Forms an Alliance with National Bank of Kuwait. Colin Powell and Morgan Stanley announce first-ever brokerage firm dedicated to America’s Promise, (investing for American government).
2000- Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. acquires Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services, (makes Morgan Stanley one of the largest owners of aircraft worldwide).
-Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. appears as #11 on the Forbes 500 list, 2001
http://www.forbes.com/
-Info from http://www.morganstanley.com/
-Philip Purcell, CEO of MSDW is #11 on Forbes Top CEO’s list, 2001.
MERRILL LYNCH (ML)
1940- ML merges with E.A. Pierce & Cassatt, (brokerage firm + investment bank).
1941- ML merges with Fenner & Beane.
1964- ML buys C.J. Devine, (starts to deal government insurance securities).
1978- ML acquires White and Weld Co, (an international investment firm and helps expand ML overseas).
1995- ML acquires Smith New Court and becomes the largest equity organization in the world.
1996- ML acquires Hotchkis and Wiley.
1997- ML acquires McIntosh Securities Limited a major Australian brokerage firm.
1997- Total assets in private accounts top $1 trillion.
1999- ML partnership with Multex.com to develop e-trading.
2000- ML partnership with English HSBC is made, (launches global e-trading). ML and Bloomberg information group announce partnership. Comes together with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter to launch new electronic market with the support of the major investment firms.
-Merrill Lynch appears as #23 on the Forbes 500 list, 2001 http://www.forbes.com/
-Info concerning ML see the homepage @ http://www.ml.com/
-David Komansky, CEO of ML-HSBC is #35 on Forbes Top CEO’s, 2001.
CHARLES SCHWAB (CS)
Schwab, a relatively new company (1970), hasn’t had any significant mergers to date.
1980-1983- BankAmerica Corp. buys Schwab.
1987- Charles Schwab (person) buys it back from BankAmerica Corp. and takes it public.
2001- Establishes an alliance with TD Waterhouse to acquire Aitken Campbell, (a Scottish marketing firm).
Schwab has resolved to be “different” from its competitors, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, et al. They want to be a more personal brokerage firm, encouraging personal advisors and resisting the merger movement in the financial industry.
-Info from http://www.businessweek.com/1998/21/b3579181.htm concerning business ideals and resisting mergers, for more info on Schwab visit this site.
-For info on Charles Schwab visit http://www.aboutschwab.com/ and http://www.forbes.com/ (concerning company information).
-Charles Schwab, CEO of CS, appears #47 on Forbes Top CEO’s list, 2001.
SALOMON SMITH BARNEY
Charles Barney and Edward Smith combine their firms in the 1800s.
1987- First major deal in company history, Primerica Corp. buys Smith Barney and Harris Upham & Co. Inc.
1993 July- Smith Barney operations combined with Shearson Lehman Brothers within the Primerica Corp.
1993 December- Smith Barney becomes subsidiary of Traveler’s Group after Primerica’s acquisition of the Traveler’s Corp.
1997- Smith Barney Holdings Inc. combined with Salomon Inc. and becomes known as Salomon Smith Barney Holdings Inc.
1998- Citicorp and Traveler’s Croup merge to create Citigroup, this is one of the largest if not the largest merger within the financial industry. This merger includes Citibank, Salomon Smith Barney, Traveler’s Insurance, Primerica Corp, and Commercial Credit (CitiFinancial).
-For info on Citigroup and its subsidiaries see http://www.citigroup.com/
-For Salomon Smith Barney company information see their homepage http://www.salomonsmithbarney.com/ or http://www.forbes.com/
-Sanford Weill, CEO of Citigroup, appears #1 on Forbes Top CEO’s list, 2001.
GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP (GS)
1998- GS acquires Spear, Leeds & Kellogg.
1999- Goldman Sachs acquires Hull Group, (an electric market-maker).
2001- Goldman Sachs buys Benjamin Jacobson & Sons LLC.
Goldman Sachs is an investment company with a staunch commitment to advising Mergers & Acquisitions between companies. Throughout its history it has mainly advised M&A’s rather than participating in them.
-For information on Goldman Sachs Group and its subsidiaries see http://www.hoovers.com/co/capsule/6/0,2163,40176,00.html and http://www.gs.com/
-Henry Paulson Jr., CEO of Goldman Sachs Group, appears #70 on Forbes Top CEO’s, 2001.
-Goldman Sachs Group appears #24 on Forbes 500 List, 2001. http://www.forbes.com/
PAINE WEBBER (PW)
· 1942- Charles Jackson and Laurence Curtis & Co. merge with William Paine and Wallace Webber to form Paine Webber.
· 1972- PW acquires Abacus Fund Inc., (an investment company).
· 1977- PW acquires Mitchell Hutchins Inc.
· 1979- PW acquires Blyth, Eastman Dillon & Co., (a company that was founded by Dean Witter and Charles Blyth).
· 1995- PW acquires Kidder Peabody group from the General Electric Company.
· 2000- UBS AG, a Swiss bank, acquires Paine Webber to create UBS Paine Webber.
-For more information concerning UBS AG or Paine Webber visit http://painewebber.com/ or http://www.forbes.com/
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