CHICAGO - The four-member public finance banking team from Ohio-based Butler Wick & Co. - cut last month after Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. acquired the firm - landed earlier this month at Cincinnati-based Ross, Sinclaire & Associates LLC.
The group includes in Columbus Omar Ganoom, a nine-year veteran at Butler Wick and manager of the group; Donald Bank, who launched Butler Wick's capital markets group in 1991; and Eric Prall, who joined Butler Wick six years ago. The fourth banker, Joseph O'Keefe, joined Butler last June to establish a presence in Illinois. He previously was a senior credit analyst at Fitch Ratings.
Stifel cut the Butler Wick team last month after the firm acquired the broker-dealer while simultaneously recruiting a group of bankers from the Columbus and Cleveland offices of Wachovia Securities. The group, led by Ganoom, sought to remain together and talked to several firms before signing on with Ross Sinclaire earlier this month.
Ganoom said the team sought to join an investment bank with a stronger capital base.
"Ross Sinclaire is a solid boutique investment bank that is not wed to a commercial bank with toxicity issues. It's a pure investment bank and we like that model. This firm also provides us with greater latitude to serve our clients," he said.
The firm can lead deals of at least $150 million, compared to Butler Wick, which was limited more recently to senior managing deals under $100 million. Butler Wick was a subsidiary of the thrift institution United Community Financial Corp.
The hires allow Ross Sinclaire to capitalize on the Butler Wick team's relationships with northern Ohio issuers and also those in Chicago. Butler Wick ranked 18th last year among Ohio senior managers. Ross Sinclaire did not rank in the top 25 underwriters in Ohio last year but was sixth among senior managers of Kentucky debt and 62nd nationally, according to Thomson Reuters.
Founded in 1989, Ross Sinclaire operates nine offices across eight states with a total of 70 employees including some 20 public finance employees. The firm acts as broker-dealer typically as part of a syndicate team on competitively bid deals.
It is a high-ranked financial adviser in Kentucky and South Carolina, according to Thomson . In addition to Louisville and Cincinnati, the firm has offices in Frankfort, Ky., Columbia, S.C., and Indianapolis.
The firm last year hired Sue Ellen Reed, the longtime Indiana school superintendent, to work as a financial adviser out of Indianapolis.
