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One of Wall Street's more ambitious investors wants to take a Midwestern brokerage firm and turn it into a linchpin for a growing financial empire.
Late last month Manhattan-based Kuhns Brothers & Laidlaw Inc. signed an agreement to acquire St. Louis-based Stifel Financial Corp. for $60 million. The deal depends on shareholders' approval and Kuhns Brothers' obtaining financing.
"There is definitely a degree of synergy between the companies that could be developed," says industry analyst Perrin Long. "But it remains to be seen how much."
Formerly known as Laidlaw Adams & Peck Inc., Kuhns Brothers was purchased one year ago by a group of former Salomon Brothers Inc. executives, led by 37-year-old John D. Kuhns.
Since June, when news of Mr. Kuhns' interest in Stifel first surfaced (Crain's, June 22), there has been much speculation concerning the reasons for it.
Stifel offers opportunity
Though Stifel and Kuhns officials declined to discuss the merger with Crain's New York Business, the St. Louis firm offers a...