The purchase price was not disclosed.
The deal was announced Friday evening London time, and came shortly after Seymour Pierce had been briefly placed in administration, according to a statement by Grant Thornton, the administrators.
The rescue of Seymour Pierce by Cantor Fitzgerald confirmed reports that the two companies were in talks. Neither company had commented on the reports, which had been detailed in the Financial Times and other publications.
The FT and others have noted that the small-cap broking business has been difficult recently, due to a dearth of deals in the currently subdued marketplace.
In its statement, Cantor Fitzgerald Europe said the Seymour Pierce team joining Cantor Fitzgerald Europe will be led by Tom Forcier, who will head up the operation as chief operating officer.
Rick Thompson and David McCreadie will “transition to senior roles in corporate finance and equities, where they will join Gordon Neilly, head of corporate finance in Europe; Angelo Sofocleous, head of market making, and Marc Altmann, head of European equities for Cantor,” the Cantor statement continued.
The Seymour Pierce “team” will continue to be based in London, with chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald Europe James Rowsell assuming overall responsibility, Cantor added.
Core and Satellite
It was not immediately clear what the deal will mean for the future of a new Seymour Pierce operation which, as it recently revealed exclusively to International Adviser, was set up to make the company’s Core and Satellite asset management service available to investors outside the UK market for the first time.
Until now, this service had been available only to British investors.
Cantor: 70 corp clients
In acquiring key parts of Seymour Pierce, Cantor immediately adds more than 70 corporate clients to its roster, and will increase its market making coverage by more than 250 stocks.
In addition, former Seymour Pierce staff will now “augment [Cantor’s] corporate finance, corporate broking, equity research, equity sales and trading, and market making activities ,” Cantor noted, while boosting Cantor’s expertise in such sectors as metals and mining, oil and gas, retail, life sciences and healthcare, property and support services.
Rowsell said the acquisition would provide Cantor “with the opportunity to accelerate our strategy to provide full-service corporate finance and advisory services for clients, and to expand the reach and product specialisation of our established European equities business”.
He added: “Cantor Fitzgerald Europe is positioning itself to become one of the leading advisers operating in the small – mid market segment of the UK market.”
