Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP, which has been rebuilding since last year's terror attacks devastated its ranks, today will name William A. Eagan 3d of UBS Warburg as a managing director in its own investment banking group.
Mr. Eagan is the kind of high-caliber banker that Sandler has been seeking. He began his career at Lehman Brothers, worked there 16 years, and went to J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1999 and UBS Warburg's financial institutions group at the beginning of last year.
His resume includes a number of high-profile banking deals, including two involving Citizens Financial Group Inc., a Providence, R.I., unit of Royal Bank of Scotland PLC. He worked for Citizens in its December purchase of the retail business of Mellon Financial Corp. of Pittsburgh and in its October 1999 acquisition of the commercial banking business of Boston-based State Street Corp. He also represented Fleet Financial Group, now FleetBoston Financial Corp., in its 1998 acquisition of Advanta Corp's credit card business.
In a telephone interview Tuesday, Mr. Eagan said he was attracted by Sandler's focus on financial institutions and the growth opportunities at the firm.
"All the resources at Sandler are 100% devoted to financial services," Mr. Eagan said.
He is set to join the company Sept. 3.
William F. Hickey, a principal at Sandler and a co-head of its investment banking group, said the firm is keen to build. "I am always looking for people."
Though Mr. Eagan will be scouting deals nationwide for Sandler, he has particularly strong relationships in New England, Mr. Hickey said. Indeed, his past relationship with Citizens may stand him in good stead, since that company's chief executive, Lawrence Fish, recently said he would keep doing deals, and is especially interested in the Middle Atlantic states.
"It is personal relationships with senior executives that he brings," Mr. Hickey said.
Sandler was the lead financial adviser in seven of the M&A deals, with a cumulative price tag of $596 million, announced in the first half of this year, according to Sheshunoff Information Services. That made it No. 2 to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. in the number of whole bank and thrift deals and No. 4 in their value.
Sandler also ranked second to Keefe Bruyette in the number of deals in the Northeast - but first in the value of deals there, at $383.3 million.
Keefe Bruyette, whose main office was also in the World Trade Center, lost 67 people in the assault. Sandler lost 66.
Sandler has made several high-profile hires in recent months. In June, Robert A. Albertson, a former head of U.S. banking research at Goldman Sachs who went on to found the Pilot Financial LLC hedge fund, joined as a principal and chief strategist. In February, Brian R. Sterling became a principal in Sandler's investment banking group; he had been a managing director in Merrill Lynch & Co.'s financial institutions group.
Sandler has also expanded its research coverage. In June it hired Jeffery Harte as an analyst to follow the bulge-bracket investment banking companies. Mr. Harte put out his first Sandler reports, on all six of those firms, on Tuesday.
