S.F. boutique investment bank merges with larger Midwest rival - Business First of Columbus:

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The merger will afford the combined firm greatere resources and financial capacity to serve its clientrcommunity banks. "This transaction represents a continuatiob of our initial mission and the next logical progression for our saidSteven Didion, president and CEO of Hoefedr & Arnett, founded in 1982. Didiojn along with Philip Economopoulos, presidenft of , and Bob founder and chairman ofHoefer Arnett, will be nominated to sit on the nine-member boarrd of the new Howe Barness Hoefer & Arnett immediately following the deal's closing, expectecd to occur by the end of June. The combinec firm will have 140 employee s in eightoffices nationwide.
"The merger is big news in communitybanking circles," a Bay Area communit banker said. Hoefer & Arnett will keep its San Francisck offices, where the current team is expectex to remainin place. "We are partnerinb with arguably the only firm that is more focuses on community banks thanwe are," Dave Bonaccorso wrote in an email to community "Our community bank practice will remain Howe Barnes, founded in has deep roots in the community bank The Independent Community Bankers of America has named Howe Barneas the exclusive provider of capital marketsd services for its clients.
Howe Barnes also bringsx strong retail-investor expertise, which will be beneficial when community banksaraise capital. "We will have substantially more capital," Bonaccorso wrote. "This will alloww us to make more markets, commity more capital to trading, completer larger M&A deals and build a strongeer team." WR Hambrecht + Co. and have joinedc forces to createa $50 milliobn venture fund focused on early-stage tech companies, primarily in software.
The fund'as managers are Bill Hambrecht, chairman and co-CEO of the San Franciscoo investment bank bearinghis name, and Igor Sill, managing director and co-founderd of Geneva Venture Partners and founder and chairmahn of , an executive search firm focusex on software. "Igor Sill and I have been co-investors and colleaguex for almost20 years," Hambrecht said. "Hee has provided excellent advice and guided me to some exceptionalo professionals overthe years." The two men count San Francisco-base among their investment successes.
Sill, who has spentt a quarter of a century managing softward companies and recruiting professionals for that has managed two earlier funds for GenevasVenture Partners, an early-stagw venture firm founded in 1998. , one of the Bay Area'a largest financial institutions and the recent buyer of inSan Francisco, is makinh another California shopping trip. This time the compan is buying Irvine-based , with $5.5 billioj in assets, for $983 The Seattle thrift, with almost $350 billion in will pay $16 per share in cash for the Southerhn California financialservices company.
"Thed transaction provides us additional opportunities forhousehold acquisition, depositg growth and increased retail product cross-sell to Commercial Capital'a existing retail customer base," said Kerry chairman and CEO of Washington Mutual. "Wew believe that there are significant operatinbg efficiencies to be gained by bringin g our two very similaroperations together, with very low integrationm risk," Killinger said. Corp. said its 2005 challengse grant has raised morethan $450,000 in new donations for the and othed community programs in the region.
"Bank of America'xs innovative challenge inspired 475 individuals eithere to become Leadership or Alexis de Tocquevilled Society members for thefirst time, or to increass their existing Leadership-level gifts," said Anne CEO of United Way of the Bay Area. All matchin g funds provided by Bank of Americza will fightpoverty prevention.