Geneva Cos. Still No. 1 in Initiating, Closing Mergers

The Geneva Cos., a Costa Mesa firm that handles mergers and acquisitions, has maintained its top ranking for initiating and closing deals in the first six months this year.

Through June 30, Geneva was credited with initiating 26 mergers and acquisitions, well ahead of the 15 deals started by the second place firm, according to Monday’s edition of Corporate Financing Week, an industry newsletter.

The ranking shows that Geneva has increased its activity slightly in the middle market area, generally defined as companies valued at $5 million to $100 million. In the first six months last year, Geneva had put together 24 deals.

Buyer Interest

“Geneva’s growth over the years and consistent ranking in the mergers and acquisitions tally among firms initiating deals of all sizes is a barometer of continued buyer interest in America’s middle market,” said Arthur D. Perrone Jr., president of Geneva Business Services, one of the Geneva-owned companies.

Overall, the number of deals put together by the top 10 firms was down slightly to 99 deals in the first six months this year from 104 in the same period last year, the newsletter said.

Geneva took the top spot for the first time last June, and held the lead at the end of the year with 50 advertised deals, well ahead of London-based Henry Ansbacher Group, which finished second with 36 deals.

The ranking is determined by the total number of so-called “tombstone” advertisements published in the Wall Street Journal to announce completed merger and acquisition transactions. Almost every deal is advertised, industry sources have said.

No. 8 in Activity

Besides Ansbacher, Geneva is the only non-Wall Street firm ever to rank at the top.

In a separate listing, Geneva ranked No. 8 in terms of total merger and acquisition activity, which includes consulting and financing as well as initiation. Geneva only initiates deals.

Overall, total merger and acquisition activity has increased 13% over the first six months last year, the newsletter said.

The newsletter does not chart the total dollar volume generated by merger and acquisition deals and advisory services. Last year’s leader was Goldman Sachs with $63.5 billion, which would be 10 to 12 times more than Geneva could generate if it did nothing but $100 million deals.

The list also does not include unadvertised or uncompleted deals or those involving defense-related activities. Nor does it take into account the size, complexity and profitability of the deals.

MERGER AND ACQUISITION ACTIVITY

1988 first half

Rank* Number of Full Year Transactions 1987 rank 1. Geneva Cos. 26 1 2. Henry Ansbacher Group 15 2 3. Prudential-Bache Capital Fundings 11 8 4. Drexel Burnham Lambert 10 4 5. Bear Stearns 9 14 5. Merrill Lynch 9 6 7. Chase Investment Bank 5 6 7. PaineWebber 5 3 7. Salomon Brothers 5 17 10. Hambrecht & Quist 4 27

* Ranked by number of deals advertised through June 30

Source: Corporate Financing Week