Jefferies Buys Hoare Govett from RBS

The US investment bank will acquire the historic UK broker from RBS, which is selling off its investment banking side.

Global financial services firm Jefferies has agreed to acquire Hoare Govett, a century-old UK brokerage, from RBS, which continues to shed its investment banking operations.

The acquisition includes the entire senior Hoare Govett corporate broking team, as well as certain other corporate broking, equity research, sales, trading and capital markets professionals. In total, about 50 staff members will join Jefferies' London office, including all current Hoare Govett managing directors. The acquired business will operate as Jefferies Hoare Govett.

"Our absorbing of Hoare Govett provides Jefferies with an exceptional opportunity to continue our growth in corporate broking and significantly expand the capabilities and reach of our established European investment banking and equities businesses," say Jefferies chairman and CEO Richard Handler, and chairman of the executive committee Brian Friedman, in a joint statement. "Hoare Govett's relationships and experience, combined with Jefferies' sector and product expertise and hands-on approach, will enable us to provide the full benefits of the Jefferies global platform to our new clients. Combining one of the strongest merger-and-acquisition (M&A) franchises on Wall Street, a robust lending and leveraged finance business, and a deep sector-focused coverage model with global distribution, Jefferies is positioned to efficiently serve our existing and new corporate clients with a full range of investment banking capabilities globally."

RBS acquired Hoare Govett as part of its 2007 purchase of Dutch bank ABN Amro. The UK government, which owns 83 percent of the bank, has been pressuring it to divest itself of its non-retail properties.