FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
NEW YORK and LONDON, June 21, 2007 -- Jefferies & Company, Inc., the principal operating subsidiary of Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF), today announced that it has acquired the Putnam Lovell investment banking business, for 20 years a leading adviser to the financial services sector, from Canada’s National Bank Financial Group. This is the fifth industry-focused M&A group acquired by Jefferies in less than five years and brings the Firm’s investment banking team to approximately 520 professionals globally. These acquisitions, along with significant internal growth, have supported the rapid expansion of the Jefferies global investment bank, a leading financial advisor, underwriter and institutional securities firm serving growing companies and their investors.
The Putnam Lovell financial services team includes 21 investment banking professionals in New York, London and San Francisco, who are focused on the asset management, broker dealer, financial technology and related industries. The new team is complementary to Jefferies’ existing financial services practice, which primarily includes specialty finance, transaction processing and other outsourced business services. Putnam Lovell clients have included Allianz Group, Deutsche Bank, Massachusetts Mutual, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Prudential Financial. Prominent recent transactions include State Street’s acquisition of Currenex, the sale of a majority interest in Chicago Equity Partners to Affiliated Managers Group, the sale of AssetMark to Genworth Financial, eSecLending in its sale to TA Associates, Bank of Ireland's acquisition of a majority interest in Guggenheim Alternative Asset Management, and the reverse merger of Carr Sheppards Crosthwaite Limited with Rensburg PLC, among others.
Richard Handler, Chairman and CEO of Jefferies, commented:
“We are fortunate to have been able to combine exceptional industry knowledge with unique research, sales and trading capabilities throughout our growing investment bank. The acquisition of Putnam Lovell represents a significant opportunity for Jefferies to deepen our Financial Services expertise, and to serve an even broader base of clients as we continue to diversify our firm.”
Brian Friedman, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Jefferies, added:
“The Putnam Lovell investment banking business complements our current capabilities and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to find the best partners to help us continue to build Jefferies. As with each of our previous acquisitions, this transaction is structured to be immediately accretive, and we are hopeful our new partners will be able to leverage our firm’s broad platform to benefit our clients and shareholders."
Aaron Dorr, a Managing Director at Putnam Lovell, said:
"The globalization and consolidation of the Financial Services Sector has significantly contributed to the needs and opportunities of growing and mid-sized companies within this space. Speaking on behalf of my partners, we are delighted to join Jefferies in identifying and meeting those needs in the US and Europe with the added resources and capabilities that our combined platform will offer.”
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
About Jefferies
Jefferies, a global investment bank and institutional securities firm, has served growing and mid-sized companies and their investors for 45 years. Headquartered in New York, with more than 25 offices around the world, Jefferies provides clients with capital markets and financial advisory services, institutional brokerage, securities research and asset management. The firm is a leading provider of trade execution in equity, high yield, convertible and international securities for institutional investors and high net worth individuals.
Contact:
Tom Tarrant, Jefferies & Company, Inc., 203 708 5989, ttarrant@jefferies.com
Desiree Maghoo, Jefferies International Ltd, 44 20 7029 8085, dmaghoo@jefferies.com
Special Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include statements about our future and statements that are not historical facts. The forward-looking statements in this release pertain to the future development and expansion of our investment banking business. Forward-looking statements represent only our belief regarding future events, many of which by their nature are inherently uncertain. The use of these forward-looking statements does not infer that the results will be achieved. It is possible that the actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results indicated in these forward-looking statements. Please refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 1, 2007 for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements.
