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RBC Capital Markets to acquire Seasongood & Mayer
NEW YORK, April 30, 2007 — RBC Capital Markets
today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Seasongood
& Mayer, LLC, the state of Ohio's top-ranked public finance
firm and leading underwriter of municipal debt. As part of
the proposed deal, RBC has also agreed to acquire Seasongood
Asset Management, a wholly owned subsidiary and investment
advisor to public funds clients. Completion of the transaction
remains subject to regulatory approvals and other customary
conditions and is expected to close in the second quarter
of 2007. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The proposed merger bolsters RBC Capital Markets' leadership
position in the U.S. municipal investment banking market while
enhancing its overall presence in Ohio and in K-12 education
finance nationally. It will also provide Seasongood's clients
with additional products and services offered by RBC. In addition
to being the top negotiated underwriter in Ohio, the combined
RBC entity, based on 2006 rankings, would be the #1 ranked
municipal bank nationally in both U.S. middle market issues
and the K-12 school finance sector. RBC Capital Markets ranked
eighth last year in the U.S. in senior-managed negotiated
municipal bond underwriting volume.
"As one of the top states for municipal issuance in
the country, Ohio represents a key strategic growth area for
us," said Larry Holtz, Head of Municipal Markets for
RBC Capital Markets. "We are the only top-10 firm in
the U.S. to have a physical presence in the state of Ohio,
and this deal will bring the number of people we have on the
ground there to over 100. Acquiring Seasongood significantly
enhances RBC's presence in K-12 finance, further strengthens
our franchise as one of the leading municipal finance platforms
in the United States, and aligns well with our culture and
our strategy of having a local presence to serve clients."
RBC Capital Markets' municipal finance business ranked in
the top five in 2006 in the states of Arizona (1st), Pennsylvania
(1st), Colorado (2nd), Texas (4th) and New Jersey (5th). All
five states rank among the top 15 issuer states in the U.S.
Seasongood & Mayer has been the #1 ranked municipal finance
firm in Ohio for 12 consecutive years.
Seasongood Asset Management currently manages $1.5 billion
in assets for public funds clients in the Ohio region. It
is intended that this business will operate under the name
RBC Public Fund Services as a joint venture between RBC Capital
Markets and Voyageur Asset Management, a business unit of
RBC Wealth Management.
"As we continue to work closely with entities within
the state of Ohio, this merger gives us a much broader array
of quality products and services, global strength, and access
to the RBC balance sheet, all of which are essential in our
business today," said Todd Braff, a Managing Principal
of Seasongood & Mayer and head of the new business' Ohio
operations. "It will allow us to better serve our clients
and maintain our leadership position in a new, more sophisticated
era of public finance.
"Looking at our proud history as one of Cincinnati's
oldest ongoing companies, it became apparent to us that the
absolute best way to ensure the continuation of our philosophy
and history of service was to find a way to partner with one
of the great organizations in our business, RBC Capital Markets."
"By combining Seasongood's geographic leadership, advisory
expertise and longstanding reputation in the marketplace with
our strong national municipal finance platform backed by North
America's sixth largest bank, we can add significant value
for our clients both nationally and within the state of Ohio,"
said Chris Hamel, RBC Capital Markets' Head of Municipal Finance.
The transaction is the latest in a series of deals completed
by RBC as it continues to build its presence in the United
States and globally. RBC has announced seven acquisitions
in the U.S. in the past nine months, including recent acquisitions
by RBC Capital Markets of Carlin Financial Group, a broker-dealer
known for its proprietary trade execution platform, and Daniels
& Associates, the nation's most active M&A advisor
to the cable, telecom, broadcast and Internet services industries.
About Seasongood & Mayer
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Seasongood & Mayer is the
oldest securities firm and largest public finance organization
in the state of Ohio. The firm was established in 1887 with
the purpose of specializing in the underwriting and distribution
of fixed-income
securities. The firm now dedicates itself to the underwriting,
trading and marketing of municipal bonds. It has been the
#1 ranked firm in Ohio for tax-exempt bonds and notes for
12 consecutive years.
About RBC Capital Markets
RBC Capital Markets is the corporate and investment banking
arm of RBC, the masterbrand used by Royal Bank of Canada (RY
on the TSX and NYSE), and is active globally in debt origination,
sales and trading, foreign exchange, infrastructure finance,
structured products, metals and mining and energy. Its North
American equity underwriting, sales, trading and research
business leads the Canadian market and supports a significant
and growing franchise in the U.S. middle market. Bloomberg
ranks the firm as one of the Top 20 investment banks globally.
About RBC Wealth Management
RBC Wealth Management directly serves affluent and high net
worth clients in Canada, the United States, Latin America,
Europe and Asia, provides asset management and trust services
through RBC partners and third-party distributors and has
over $500 billion of assets under administration, 3,500 financial
advisors and $150 billion of assets under management.
Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may be
deemed to be forward-looking statements under certain securities
laws, including the "safe harbor" provisions of
the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 and in any applicable Canadian securities legislation,
and RBC Capital Markets and Seasongood & Mayer, LLC intend
that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor
created thereby. The words "may," "could,"
"should," "would," "suspect,"
"outlook," "believe," "plan,"
"anticipate," "estimate," "expect,"
"intend," "forecast," "objective"
and words and expressions of similar import are intended to
identify forward-looking statements.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve
numerous assumptions, and inherent risks and uncertainties,
both general and specific, and risks exist that predictions,
forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements,
including statements about the proposed acquisition of Seasongood
& Mayer, LLC by RBC Capital Markets, will not be achieved.
We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements
as a number of important factors could cause our actual results
to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions expressed
in such forward-looking statements. These factors include,
but are not limited to the possibility that the proposed acquisition
does not close when expected or at all because required regulatory
or other approvals are not received or other conditions to
the closing are not satisfied on a timely basis or at all,
that RBC Capital Markets and Seasongood & Mayer, LLC may
be required to modify the terms and conditions of the proposed
transaction to achieve regulatory approval, or that the anticipated
benefits of the transaction are not realized as a result of
such things as the strength of the economy and competitive
factors in the areas where the Seasongood & Mayer, LLC
business does business; the impact of changes in the laws
and regulations regulating financial services and enforcement
thereof (including banking, insurance and securities); judicial
judgments and legal proceedings; RBC Capital Markets ability
to complete the acquisition of Seasongood & Mayer, LLC
and to integrate it with RBC Capital Markets successfully;
reputational risks, and other factors that may affect future
results of RBC Capital Markets and the Seasongood & Mayer,
LLC business including changes in trade policies, timely development
and introduction of new products and services, changes in
tax laws, and technological and regulatory changes. We caution
that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive.
RBC Capital Markets and Seasongood & Mayer, LLC assume
no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained
in this press release.
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For more information, please contact:
RBC
New York
Kevin Foster, RBC Capital Markets, 212-428-6902, kevin.foster@rbccm.com
Toronto
Katherine Gay, RBC Capital Markets, 416-974-6286, katherine.gay@rbc.com
Jackie Braden, RBC, 416-974-2124, jackie.braden@rbc.com
Investor Relations
Marcia Moffat, RBC, 416-955-7803, marcia.moffat@rbc.com
Amy Cairncross, RBC, 416-955-7809, amy.cairncross@rbc.com
Seasongood & Mayer
Ohio
Joe Bride, 513-368-0848, jobe@fuse.net
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