Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc., also known as TWP or Weisel, is a U.S. growth focused
investment banking firm headquartered in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
.
The firm was launched in January 1999 by
Thom Weisel and other personnel from the former
Montgomery Securities
Montgomery Securities was an investment bank based in San Francisco, California, that specialized in high technology and health care sectors. The firm was founded in 1978 by Thom Weisel.
The bank was acquired by NationsBank Corporation on Jun ...
. In 1997,
Thom Weisel helped to orchestrate a $1.3 billion acquisition of Montgomery Securities by
NationsBank
NationsBank was one of the largest banking corporations in the United States, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company named NationsBank was formed through the merger of several other banks in 1991, and prior to that had been through mul ...
.
Brandt, Richard. Capital Instincts. The following year, however, NationsBank acquired
BankAmerica
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...
Corp, which itself had acquired Technology-based rival
Robertson Stephens. A culture clash and fight for control ensued at the newly combined investment banking units of what is now known as
Banc of America Securities
In the English language, banq and banc are coined words pronounced identically to the word "bank". Both terms have been adopted by financial services companies and others to satisfy legal restrictions on the usage of the word ''bank''. The compo ...
.
In the process, senior bankers from Montgomery Securities secured backing from the
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Coun ...
Venture Capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...
community and left to form their own venture: Thomas Weisel Partners.
Thomas Weisel Partners, heavily focused on technology, prospered during the dot-com rise that peaked in its early years. The firm, however, hit turbulent times as technology saw a tremendous downturn. Bolstered by diversification into areas such as healthcare and consumer products, however, the firm survived and continued to operate independently. In search of additional capital, the firm made its debut on the
NASDAQ on February 2, 2006 under the symbol TWPG.
CBS Market Watch. Thomas Weisel IPO up 30% in debut. 02/02/2006
Following its acquisition of Westwind Partners that closed on January 2, 2008,
CNN. Thomas Weisel Partners Completes Acquisition of Westwind Partners - Announces Appointment of Westwind CEO as President of TWP and Selected Preliminary Fourth Quarter 2007 Results. 01/02/2008 the firm now offers a broad coverage platform across technology, media, healthcare, consumer products, energy, mining, and real estate.
Thomas Weisel Partners. Retrieved 01/16/2008
Thomas Weisel Partners Canada. Retrieved 01/16/2008 Equity and Debt underwriting and Merger and Acquisition advisory operations are supplemented by Research, Trading, Brokerage, and Asset Management units as the firm operates a full-service investment bank.
Various divisions operate out of San Francisco, New York, Toronto, London, Baltimore, Zurich, Calgary, Montreal, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, and Portland.
In 2010, Thomas Weisel announced its acquisition by
Stifel Nicolaus, Stifel Financial.
References
{{refbegin
Investment banks in the United States
1999 establishments in California
Banks established in 1999