US: Piper Jaffray agrees to buy Sandler O’Neill for $485M

Piper Jaffray is shelling out US$485 million for full-service investment bank Sandler O’Neill, according to a statement from the firm, reported the Wall Street Journal. The combined entity will be called Piper Sandler Companies.

The goal of the merger is to strengthen the bank’s merger-advisory and fixed-income businesses. The new company will also have an expanded equity research operation.

Piper Jaffray will pay US$350 million in cash and an additional US$135 million in restricted consideration, mostly in restricted Piper Jaffray stock. The deal is expected to close in January.

“Piper Jaffray is very focused on competing in market sectors where we can be a market leader and leverage our specific expertise,” Chad Abraham, the CEO of Piper Jaffray, said in the statement. “With Sandler O’Neill, we start with the market leader and could not be positioned better to compete in the financial services sector over time.”

Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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