Boston, MA 02/27/2013 (wallstreetpr) – KBW, Inc (NYSE:KBW) the boutique investment bank has been taken over by Stifel Financial Corp (NYSE:SF) and three senior bankers have been shown the exit door post the merger. Managing Director Michael Barry had joined the company in 2009 after leaving Merrill Lynch & Co. Two unidentified sources said that his most recent responsibility within Stifel Financial Corp (NYSE:SF) was to oversee financial institutions mergers. The grapevine has it that Barry might be in the process of joining Sterne Agee Group Inc.
Downsizing and retaining
Ronald Kruszewski CEO of Stifel Financial Corp (NYSE:SF) purchased KBW, Inc (NYSE:KBW) at a price of $575 million in a cash-and-stock transaction last November. He said that Stifel will be downsizing its staff and that mostly employees who do not have any direct client interaction will be laid-off. On the other hand, key KBW, Inc (NYSE:KBW) employees are being offered attractive retention packages in a bid to keep the company running smoothly and seamlessly. A Stifel Financial Corp (NYSE:SF) spokesperson Sarah Anderson did not return calls that sought a comment about changes to the personnel ranks. The KBW, Inc (NYSE:KBW) spokesperson Sophia Pogoff declined from making any comments.
Servat and Hutchinson moving
The two other managing directors who were asked to leave the company were Jean-Luc Servat and Robert Hutchinson. Jean-Luc Servat had joined Stifel Financial Corp (NYSE:SF) in 2011 after leaving Royal Bank of Canada. Based in San Francisco, he was in charge of West Coast banks and is now considering whether he will continue being a part of the industry at all. Servat is still in the process of wrapping up pending transactions. Hutchinson had been with Sterne Agee before he moved to Stifel Financial Corp (NYSE:SF) and one person who worked there said that he will be moving back to the company. He was in charge of Northeastern banks and had joined Stifel in September at its Boston office. Hutchinson too did not have an immediate response to a request of a statement. The e-mail and call to the Sterne Agee spokesperson Jim Townsend received no response either.
Some plans unchanged
There were over twelve senior bankers in the Stifel Financial Corp (NYSE:SF) advisory group before its KBW, Inc (NYSE:KBW) takeover. They will continue to conduct business as Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and will be a part of the Stifel unit operations. Certain unrevealed sources have confirmed that the market maker Knight Capital Group Inc (NYSE:KCG) that is in the middle of being acquired by Getco LLC might be going through the sale of its debt-brokerage unit to Stifel Financial Corp (NYSE:SF).
Shares of Stifel Financial Corp (NYSE:SF) went down by 6.30% to close at $35.24
Shares of Knight Capital Group Inc (NYSE:KCG) were steady at $3.71
