Deals May Strain On Refco News;

Evercore Partners sets IPO after Mexico takeover

Mon May 15, 2006 1:32 PM ET

NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - Evercore Partners, a boutique investment bank led by former U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman, has become the latest deal maker to try to capitalize on a mergers and acquisition boom by floating its shares.

The company announced the $86.3 million initial public offering on Friday in a regulatory filing, where it also disclosed a deal to acquire Mexican advisory firm Protego Asesores, which is headed by former Finance Minister Pedro Aspe.

Despite having only 120 employees, Evercore has scored mandates as an adviser in megadeals like AT&T Inc.'s (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research) planned $62 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp. (BLS.N: Quote, Profile, Research)

The New York-based firm has advised on some $300 billion in announced deals over its 10-year lifespan.

"This is a perfect time for them to go public," said Francis Gaskins, president of IPO Desktop, an independent research firm based in Marina del Rey, California. "They're at the top of their game, and the future looks quite promising to them because of their leadership position."

Evercore follows in the footsteps of other small-to-medium sized investment banks that have sought to capitalize in a deal-making boom that has touched off share rallies at M&A specialists like Lazard Ltd. (LAZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Greenhill & Co. Inc. (GHL.N: Quote, Profile, Research)

Shares of Greenhill, whose IPO priced two years ago at $17.50, are now about $71. Lazard, which went public last May at $25, now trades at nearly $46.

So far this year, San Francisco-based investment bank Thomas Weisel (TWPG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) has gone public in a $90 million deal, while U.S. brokerage Ryan Beck Holdings Inc. and Cowen Group Inc., the investment banking arm of France's Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), have both announced IPOs.

The Amex Securities Broker Dealer Index <.XBD> is up 12.8 percent so far this year, outperforming the 3.5 percent rise in the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.SPX>.

Evercore's net profit rose 27 percent to $63 million in 2005, while revenue, the vast majority of which is from M&A advisory fees, jumped 46 percent to $125.6 million.

The company also runs three different private equity funds with aggregate capital commitments of $1.2 billion.

Evercore will use part of the IPO proceeds to pay down debt, including some taken on as part of the Protego deal, and to expand and diversify its business as a whole.

The company said in the IPO filing that it hoped the stock flotation would enhance its profile, help it to expand geographically and hire more skilled personnel.

Lehman Brothers Inc. (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is sole book-running manager of the offering, also being underwritten by Goldman Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc., Fox-Pitt, Kelton Inc. and E*Trade Securities LLC.

Evercore is seeking a New York Stock Exchange listing under the symbol "EVR."