Raymond James announced plans Thursday to acquire Financo, a boutique investment bank specializing in the consumer and retail sectors. The firm has expertise in beauty and personal care, direct-to-consumer e-commerce, enthusiast brands, healthy living and active lifestyle, and home furnishings segments. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The news comes a week after the brokerage firm said it was acquiring NWPS Holdings, a retirement plan administrator based in Seattle.
This latest deal will expand Raymond James investment banking capabilities. It will combine Financo with its existing consumer and retail practice, with John Berg, CEO of Financo, leading the merged group.
Last year, Raymond James purchased Silver Lane Advisors, a boutique investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions involving financial services firms, including wealth managers. Silver Lane formed a new Asset & Wealth Management group within Raymond James Investment Banking's financial services practice.
The Financo news comes as Raymond James also reported strong recruiting numbers in its Alex. Brown division, which added 19 new advisors in the past year with $3.7 billion in recruited assets. Los Angeles–based Mark J. Pomerantz, who manages $658 million in client assets, is the latest to join Alex. Brown, moving his book over from Morgan Stanley. Raymond James acquired Alex. Brown from Deutsche Bank in 2015.
In a recent analyst note, Devin Ryan, equity research analyst at JMP Securities, raised his price target on Raymond James from $92 to $106, saying that the stock is up just marginally on the full year and that its acquisition of NWPS speaks to the firm’s desire to deploy excess capital.
“We also continue to have conviction in Raymond James’s business positioning as it remains one of, if not the strongest advisor recruiters in the space, despite increasing competition and contract pricing,” Ryan said.