UK broker Collins Stewart is acquiring New York-based investment bank C. E. Unterberg, Towbin, which has extensive activity in Israel.
Collins Stewart plc announced today that, together with its US subsidiary, it has entered into an agreement whereby Collins Stewart Inc. will acquire 100% of the stock of C.E. Unterberg, Towbin Holdings Inc., the holding company of the US investment bank, for a total $31.65 million in cash and Collins Stewart shares. Additionally, $9 million will be paid by Collins Stewart for the repayment of shareholder debt.
C.E. Unterberg, Towbin is a prominent player on the Israeli investment banking scene. The firm has lead, co-managed, or advised on transactions for 21 Israeli companies on Nasdaq and AIM, including Tower Semiconductor, Rosetta Genomics, Pointer, Leadcom, Orpak, RRSat, Gilat, Ituran, Aladdin, Shamir, Syneron, M-Systems, and Retalix.
The firm said that, as part of Collins Stewart, its Israeli office would now be able to take Israeli companies public on either Nasdaq or AIM and market these deals to investors in both the US and the UK. It will also be able to serve a broader range of Israeli clients, beyond companies in technology, healthcare, and security, the fields it has specialized in up to now. The fields C.E. Unterberg, Towbin mentions are engineering, electrical and industrial, power and renewable energy; consumer, retail and leisure; metals, mining and resources, investment funds, insurance; and real estate
The two businesses in the US will renamed Collins Stewart Inc.
C.E. Unterberg, Towbin chairman Thomas Unterberg said, “We have achieved tremendous success since my father founded this bank 75 years ago, but today you need global scale to compete. Collins Stewart gives us that. We believe the fit is extraordinarily complementary. We are both leaders in the small-to-midcap space.”
Collins Stewart was the leading fund raiser on London’s AIM market in 2006, raising £1.9 billion in 2006 in new issues that year representing a market share of 12% in terms of value.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on May 21, 2007
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