Related Professionals
Overview
Siebert Williams Shank & Co. (“SWS”) is the largest minority- and woman-owned investment bank in the US. SWS was formed in November 2019, following the merger of Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co., LLC (“Siebert”) and The Williams Capital Group, L.P. (“Williams”). Siebert, founded in 1996, is a top-ranked lead manager of municipal bond transactions, the industry’s perennial leader among minority- and woman-owned firms and #2 among all firms as co-manager of municipal bond offerings. Williams, now in its 25th year, has consistently held the #1 ranking as a co-manager of US corporate debt and is a leading non-bank commercial paper dealer. The new company, SWS, unites the complementary strengths of each firm to create the dominant minority- and woman-owned investment bank.
Situation
In 2015, Griffin advised Siebert in structuring and executing a management buyout transaction, including assisting Siebert in raising senior capital from First National Bank (“FNB”) and subordinated seller debt in order to finance the transaction. In 2019, in connection with the merger, SWS sought to refinance and upsize the existing senior loan from FNB. The upsized portion would be used to refinance the outstanding seller debt related to the 2015 management buyout, and had to be integrated into the new SWS balance sheet and capital structure.
Solution
SWS engaged Griffin Financial Group to act as its financial advisor and placement agent in the refinancing. Griffin evaluated the viability of fully refinancing the existing FNB loan and the seller debt within the context of the merged SWS capital structure. Griffin also assisted SWS in negotiating with, and ultimately raising the new senior loan from FNB. The transaction closed on December 19, 2019.
For more information on this transaction, contact John A. Lee, Senior Managing Director, at 610-205-6106 or Thomas D. O’Neill, Analyst, at 610-205-6109.
