By Stephanie Gleason
Boutique investment bank Miller Buckfire & Co., which
specializes in bankruptcy and restructuring, has been acquired by
Stifel Financial Corp. (SF).
"Through our combination with Stifel, we are confident we have
the right platform from which we can continue to provide our
clients with intelligent and creative restructuring advice to
companies with unique financial challenges," Miller Buckfire Chief
Executive Kenneth A. Buckfire said in a statement.
The complete acquisition of Miller Buckfire by Stifel took
effect Thursday evening, according to a news release. Further
details about the deal weren't made available. Neither Miller
Buckfire nor Stifel Financial returned requests for comment
Friday.
The acquisition comes after Stifel Financial made a $40 million
investment in Miller Buckfire in June 2011. That investment allowed
Stifel to offer Miller Buckfire's restructuring services to its
clients, but Miller Buckfire was able to continue operating
independently.
The New York-based firm was founded in 2002 as a spinoff of
investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein to avoid conflicts
of interest that could arise between the restructuring practice and
Dresdner's parent company, Allianz AG, according to a press release
from 2002.
Restructuring professionals Henry Miller, Kenneth Buckfire and
Martin Lewis became owners and executives of the new company. In
2011, Mr. Miller retired, and former CEO of American Express Co.
(AXP) Harvey Golub was appointed chairman.
The firm has advised restructuring companies including Kmart
Corp., Lear Corp. (LEA), Simmons Bedding Co. and Reader's
Digest.
"As we continue to build our investment-banking capabilities,
bringing our two firms together enables us to efficiently provide
capital markets and investment-banking services to clients with
special financing needs, such as those historically provided by
Miller Buckfire," Victor Nesi, a Stifel Financial Institutional
Group executive, said in a statement.
(Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review covers news about distressed
companies and those under bankruptcy protection. Go to
http://dbr.dowjones.com)
Write to Stephanie Gleason at
stephanie.gleason@dowjones.com.
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