(Bloomberg) -- Kingswood Capital Markets is rebranding as EF Hutton, reviving the name of a brokerage founded in 1904 as it steps up its profile in an attempt to challenge rivals.
The investment bank acquired the EF Hutton name because it was once synonymous with Wall Street, said Chief Executive Officer Joseph T. Rallo and President David W. Boral.
As part of the sale of the EF Hutton trademarks, Stanley Hutton Rumbough, grandson of Edward Francis Hutton, has the option to invest in and join the board of the firm’s first four special purpose acquisition companies, according to people with knowledge of the matter. EF Hutton’s blank-check companies are yet to publicly file paperwork with the Securities and Exchanges Commission, the people said.
“We’re bringing back history as we compete to be the next Cowen or Jefferies,” Rallo said in an interview. Rallo and Boral previously worked together at both Aegis Capital Corp. and Maxim Group.
Founded in May 2020, the firm has raised more than $3 billion for clients in the last twelve months and is projected to record more than $100 million in revenue this year, Rallo said. It’s an affiliate of Kingswood Holdings Ltd. and Benchmark Investments LLC.
The first EF Hutton SPAC, led by CEO Ben Piggott and co-presidents Rallo and Boral, is set to raise about $150 million and will target the U.S. consumer technology sector, the people said. MJ Clyburn, a spokesman for EF Hutton, declined to comment on the firm’s SPAC plans. Rumbough didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
EF Hutton gained renown with the 1970s and 1980s television commercials with the tag line, “When EF Hutton talks, people listen.” The firm was embroiled in a bogus-deposit scandal in the mid-80s that precipitated its eventual sale.