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Janney Montgomery Scott to Acquire Parker/Hunter
PITTSBURGH -- Parker/Hunter Inc., the largest employee-owned investment firm in Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, a large regional firm, said Tuesday that they have executed an agreement where Janney will acquire Parker/Hunter.Upon closing, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, Parker/Hunter will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Janney until the operations of the two firms are merged later in the year.The combination of Parker/Hunter's 21 offices, 130 financial advisers and 45,000 clients in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia with Janney's 900 financial consultants and 80 offices stretching from Massachusetts to Florida and national client base of 325,000, will result in one of the largest and strongest regional investment firms in the country, the companies said. In addition to having the extensive investment and support services of Janney available immediately to Parker/Hunter and its clients, Parker/Hunter professionals will continue in their respective roles and offices, said Robert W. Kampmeinert, chairman and chief executive officer of Parker.In a prepared statement, the Parker CEO said, "We are excited about uniting with Janney. We share the same values, vision and core strengths that support our mutual goals of serving our clients and fostering the growth of our employees. Janney's significant resources, identical values, and 'client-first' operating philosophy, will support the continued success of all, especially our clients. We expect the transition to be seamless."In his prepared statement, the president and CEO of Janney, James W. Wolitarsky said, "We enthusiastically welcome the professionals from Parker/Hunter into the Janney family, knowing that the combined resources and dedication of both organizations will serve clients with ever increasing value. Janney and Parker/Hunter share the same values, vision and long histories dating back to 1832 and 1902, respectively. Both firms focus on client relationships as fundamental in all they do, offering professional advice, guidance and service to individual investors, corporations, institutions and municipal governments based upon their needs and goals."Janney traces its roots to 1832 and holds the second oldest seat on the New York Stock Exchange. The company enjoys a strong capital base of over $300 million. Janney is a subsidiary of The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co., one of the 15 largest mutual insurance companies in the United States. It has assets of more than $13 billion. Parker/Hunter's asset management and public finance group will remain headquartered in Pittsburgh and take full responsibility for the combined firm's proprietary asset management and public finance businesses following the merger. In addition, Parker/Hunter's research analysts and retirement planning/estate planning expertise will remain in Pittsburgh its municipal notes operation in Philadelphia.Janney's private client office in Pittsburgh will be merged into Parker/Hunter's office in the U.S. Steel Tower and Ray DiGaetano, senior vice president at Parker/Hunter, will become regional manager for Janney with continued responsibility for all of the Parker/Hunter offices, including Pittsburgh. Kampmeinert will join Janney's board of managers and continue as chairman and president of Parker/Hunter until the merger is effected. Once that is done, he will become chairman of the board of Janney with responsibility for the new Janney's asset management, public finance, investment banking, municipal notes and venture capital activities. Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin served as the exclusive financial adviser and structured and negotiated the transaction on behalf of Parker/Hunter. Visit Janney Montgomery Scott at www.jmsonline.comVisit Parker/Hunter at www.parkerhunter.com"