First Security Van Kasper of San Francisco said Monday that it had agreed to buy a small privately owned Portland, Ore., broker-dealer, Black & Co., for an undisclosed price.
The buyer is a division of Salt Lake City-based First Security Corp., which neighboring Zions Bancorp. is to acquire this quarter for $5.9 billion. First Security bought the Van Kasper investment bank a year ago for $100 million, gaining an equity underwriting capability and a significant private-client business. First Security Van Kasper has eight offices in California and one in Phoenix.
"The Black acquisition is consistent with First Security's strategy to build up its investment banking and capital markets," said Jay Tejera, an analyst at Ragen MacKenzie in Seattle.
The agreement also shows that First Security is interested in expanding in Oregon, where it already has branches in Salem, Mr. Tejera said. In a press release, First Security Van Kasper said it plans to use the acquisition as a "broad and powerful stepping-stone" into the Pacific Northwest.
Black & Co., which is owned by its employees, has a 55-person office in Portland whose business centers on providing institutional research, high-net-worth investment and employee stock option services, and some investment banking for regional and national companies.
The senior management of 40-year-old Black & Co., which includes the firm's founder, Larry Black, will retain day-to-day management, First Security Van Kasper said.
Mr. Black, currently chairman, chief executive, and the largest shareholder, will stay on as vice chairman and report to Van Kasper, the president of First Security Van Kasper. He will focus on expanding the firm's investment banking business, said Frank Niezgoda, Black's chief operating officer.
Mr. Black's daughter Jennifer, a ranked analyst and currently president of Black & Co., will become executive vice president of First Security Van Kasper and continue her research functions.
"Combining our resources will give us a stronger research, institutional, and retail base and a stronger presence in the region," Mr. Niezgoda said.
