News
June 04, 2006
Berkshire Capital Securities LLC, the US-UK investment banking boutique and specialist in
M&A advisory services for the financial services sector, and MilleniumAssociates AG, the
Swiss based independent international M&A Advisory firm to the global financial services
industry, have signed a strategic alliance. The alliance will create the premier independent
mergers & acquisitions advisory franchise to the global financial services industry by
bringing together MilleniumAssociates, the highly regarded European M&A specialist, with its
long-established US counterpart Berkshire Capital, the leading US franchise.
Founded in 1983 as one of the first dedicated financial services M&A practices in the world,
Berkshire Capital, a registered broker-dealer headquartered in New York, primarily provides
merger, acquisition, fairness opinion, valuation and strategic advisory services to the
financial services industry, with a focus on asset management and securities firms. Recent
assignments of Berkshire Capital include advising the management team of Permal on its
sale to Legg Mason and the merger of Wachovia Corporation’s and Prudential Financial’s
retail brokerage units.
MilleniumAssociates, headquartered in Switzerland, was founded in 2000 and is a leading
independent M&A global advisory firm specialising in Mergers and Acquisitions and strategy
consulting for the financial services industry. Among its most recent assignments,
MilleniumAssociates advised Abacus Financial Services on its sale to Royal Bank of Canada
and was pre-IPO Corporate Advisor to Charlemagne Capital.
Through the alliance, the combined multinational and multicultural resources and
experience of almost 80 M&A specialists and advisors located in 7 key financial centres will
be available to offer independent M&A advice and related services for financial services
firms around the world. Industry coverage will include private banking, wealth
management, trust banking, retail and institutional asset management, alternative asset
management including hedge funds, multi manager and private equity, insurance,
securities, trading, infrastructure and administrative service suppliers.
Bruce McEver, Chairman of Berkshire Capital, stated, “Together we combine in one offering
the greatest concentration of premier financial services industry M&A expertise and
experience in the sector. This strategic alliance will enable us to further deepen the
relationships with our global client base by offering an enhanced skill set and more
diversified products.”
Ray Soudah, founder of MilleniumAssociates said, “We are confident that this alliance will
enable us to further improve and expand our client servicing both in Europe and the US as
well as enhance our ability to assist our regional, domestic and international clients with
their global M&A requirements. The alliance will ensure that we are absolutely best
positioned to give objective and unconflicted advice on a global basis within every financial
services sub-sector.”
Furthermore, Jamie Cayzer-Colvin, Director of Caledonia Investments plc, which is a
minority shareholder of Berkshire Capital, commented: “We are delighted to support the
strategic cooperation between MilleniumAssociates and Berkshire Capital who will both now
be able to service their clients on an expanded international scale.”
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