Stifel Financial Corp and KBW Inc said Friday they have completed the merger under which St. Louis-based Stifel paid about $575 million in cash and stock for New York-based KBW. Stifel, which has a large retail brokerage business with about 2,000 financial advisers, has been rapidly expanding its institutional securities business. In addition to KBW, which specializes in helping small banks merge, sell and raise capital, it has purchased three other banks since 2010 in an attempt to become what Chairman and Chief Executive Ron Kruszewski calls a "pre-eminent middle-market" investment bank.Stifel announced its planned acquisition of KBW on Nov. 5.KBW lost money last year but Kruszewski has defended KBW as ripe for growth as bank directors become more confident in the economy and the value of banking franchises."The financial services sector is one of the significant pillars of the economy, which we believe is poised to benefit from improving fundamentals," Kruszewski said in a prepared statement.
KBW, Inc. (KBW) is a full-service investment bank specializing in the financial services industry. Shares of KBW remained unchanged at $16.40. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $14.47 and as high as $19.27. On average, 525239 shares of KBW exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 0.
Stifel Financial Corp. is a financial holding company. Shares of SF fell by 0.43% or $-0.17/share to $39.08. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $28.10 and as high as $39.84. On average, 403424 shares of SF exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 104509.
Source
