Jefferies Group Inc. yesterday announced that it completed its acquisition of Depfa First Albany Securities LLC.
Jefferies in February agreed to purchase Depfa First Albany from Depfa Bank Plc to enter into the municipal securities market. The purchase price has not been disclosed.
Seventy employees will join Jefferies as part of the transaction. Depfa First Albany chief executive officer Kenneth D. Gibbs is president of the Jefferies municipal securities group, and Neil J. Flanagan heads the public finance department.
The Jefferies First Albany name will be retained for a brand transition period, but the group will be the municipal securities division of Jefferies & Co.
Hypo AG, parent of Depfa Bank, last year announced restructuring plans that would focus its business around real estate and public sector financing through "Pfandbrief" lending, a form of covered bond. The German government had to step into support Hypo last fall because of problems at Depfa, whose strategy of supporting long-term assets through short-term borrowing was upended by the credit crisis.
Depfa First Albany remained isolated from those problems, though. In 2008, it ranked 17th as both a senior manager and a financial adviser, according to Thomson Reuters. It served as the senior manager on 62 deals with a par value of $3.33 billion, compared to the 57 deals with a par value of $1.54 billion it underwrote in 2007.
It also served as a financial adviser on 37 deals with a par value of $3.27 billion.
In 2009, Depfa First Albany has underwritten nine issues with a par value of $466.6 million, ranking 28th. It has served as the financial adviser on four issues with a par value of $264.9 million.
The group joins Jefferies' fixed-income department, which now contains nearly 250 employees.
