Will the second time be the charm for Gleacher & Company
The embattled boutique bank said on Wednesday that it was in “preliminary discussions†with an unnamed third party about a possible business combination, months after the firm ended merger talks with Stifel Financial.
That new dance partner is Sterne Agee, another midsized investment bank, according to Bloomberg News. A spokesman for Gleacher declined to comment. A spokesman for Sterne Agee wasn’t immediately available for comment.
Gleacher has been struggling for several years, as the firm cut costs and laid off staff in a bid to turn itself around. Wednesday’s announcement was prefaced by news that the firm planned to close its mortgage-backed securities, rates and credit products business, which will affect up to 160 employees.
But until Wednesday, Gleacher’s board appeared reluctant to pursue a sale of the firm, despite having retained Credit Suisse last year to explore potential deal options. It broke off talks with Stifel last fall, believing the offered price was too low.
Earlier this year, Eric Gleacher, the veteran mergers specialist who founded the firm and was a proponent of a sale, left. Several weeks later, the firm announced that while it would sell its mortgage-lending arm to Ocwen Financial, it had concluded its strategic review process and found its options wanting.
