Bloomberg News
SAN FRANCISCO - J.P. Morgan & Co.'s former co-chiefs of technology investment banking, John A. Forlines 3d and David B. Weir, left the banking company Friday to run the broker-dealer business of Web investment bank OffRoad Capital Corp.
Mr. Weir, 40, is an 18-year veteran of J.P. Morgan. Mr. Forlines, 45, had worked there since 1986. They will now be co-chief executives of OffRoad Securities and co-presidents and directors of the parent, San Francisco-based OffRoad Capital, which uses online auctions to raise money for closely held companies.
Mr. Forlines is to establish a New York office for OffRoad, and Mr. Weir is to work from San Francisco. Both will report to Stephen D. Pelletier, founder, chairman, and CEO of OffRoad Capital. They are to focus on expanding the firm's online private capital marketplace through strategic alliances with other financial services companies.
"We aim to create a much deeper- and broader-scale exchange business, with not just OffRoad-sponsored deals coming through the pipeline," Mr. Weir said. "We could see the day when a venture firm uses OffRoad to raise money."
OffRoad, with 140 employees, has alliances with Charles Schwab Corp., the biggest online broker; FleetBoston Financial Corp.'s Robertson Stephens investment banking business; and venture firm Mayfield Fund, which invested $15 million in OffRoad in February, giving it more than $50 million of capital.
OffRoad has completed five private placements for clients since August, raising a total of $29.9 million.
Dag Skattum, who was named North America co-chief of technology and telecommunications investment banking in March after Mr. Forlines stepped down to work on special projects, will be the unit's sole chief, a J.P. Morgan spokesman said in confirming the departures. Mr. Skattum, Mr. Forlines, and Mr. Weir all reported to Joseph Walker, global head of the bank's 300-person technology, media, and telecomm team.
Mr. Forlines and Mr. Weir began working together 10 years ago and "tend to finish each other's sentences," Mr. Forlines said. "It was very difficult to leave J.P. Morgan, but they have a very deep bench, and there's considerable momentum."
Mr. Forlines became co-head of the North American tech group in 1997. Mr. Weir was president of J.P. Morgan Canada from 1996 until December 1998.
