Oppenheimer Holdings
Encyclopedia
Oppenheimer Holdings is an investment bank and full-service investment firm offering investment banking
, financial advisory services, capital markets services, asset management, wealth management
, and related products and services worldwide. The company, which once occupied the One World Financial Center
building in Manhattan
, now bases its operations at 300 Madison Avenue and world headquarters at 125 Broad Street in New York, NY.
and manage related financial services for large institutional clients, but origins of the firm trace back to 1881. The 1960s and 1970s was a time of great prosperity for the company, which eventually led to the 1975 restructuring. Oppenheimer & Co. formed three operating subsidiaries:
In the 1980s, OpCo founding partners began looking for a buyer. Mercantile House Holdings, PLC, a publicly owned British corporation made an offer in 1982, which was accepted and closed a year later. In 1986, a majority interest was bought in Oppenheimer & Co and Oppenheimer Capital by the firm’s management, Stephen Robert and Nathan Gantcher, along with a small group of their colleagues from Mercantile, for $150 million. A year later, British & Commonwealth Holdings, PLC, acquired Mercantile. The 1990s brought another separation of the original firm when Oppenheimer Capital's senior personnel acquired a majority interest in the subsidiary and separated from OpCo. In 1995, Robert and Gantcher, who controlled about 40 percent of OpCo's equity, became eager to locate additional capital to grow their firm. At first, OpCo explored options of forming a possible alliance with ING Groep NV
that eventually fell through. Carrying on with this goal, management set out to merge with a bulge bracket bank that has access to the foreign markets.
Robert and Gantcher entertained offers from the second-largest private German financial institution and retail bank, Bayerische Vereinsbank. On Thursday, May 8, 1997, the Wall Street Journal announced that Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank Corp. was in talks to buy Oppenheimer & Co. for about $500 million in cash, stock, and options. The article’s source warned that PNC and Oppenheimer hadn't arrived at a fixed price and that chatter could break the formal agreement, which was two weeks or more away. Analysts speculated that PNC would be paying too much for a brokerage house that no longer carried the brand-recognition it once did in the securities industry. Only 13 days following the announcement, the Bloomberg News desk announced that for the third time in two years, OpCo had been abandoned by a prospective buyer. Two months later, it was announced that CIBC wanted to expand its brokerage business and was interested in the New York-based investment banking firm, which had annual revenues of $800 million and 680 brokers who sell stocks and bonds.
. However, with the deal having been closed, the firm's name was changed to CIBC Oppenheimer Holdings. CIBC Wood Gundy continued to operate as the operating name in Canada, yet all European and Asian subsidiaries took the CIBC Oppenheimer name.
In 2003, CIBC made the decision to sell Oppenheimer’s retail brokerage business and name for $257 million to Fahnestock Viner Holdings, which subsequently changed its name to Oppenheimer. This separation was a sore wound among the institutional employees. Upon this sale, CIBC unified all CIBC Wood Gundy and CIBC Oppenheimer operations under the CIBC World Markets
name.
, Fahnestock & Co. which expanded through the decades and was eventually acquired in 1988 by E.A. Viner Holdings, Ltd. The new company, Fahnestock Viner Holdings, would eventually change its name in 2003 upon the acquisition of CIBC Oppenheimer's retail brokerage business (the Private Client and U.S. Asset Management Divisions). Upon this acquisition, the new Oppenheimer & Co. would attempt to build an institutional division brandishing the once infamous Oppenheimer moniker. After several unsuccessful tries, Oppenheimer & Co. in late 2007 announced that they would be purchasing certain assets from CIBC World Markets.
as well warehouse facility provided by the Canadian bank. The warehousing facility initially up to $1.5 billion would allow the newly-formed Oppenheimer U.S. entity to finance and hold the syndicated loans for U.S. middle market companies. Underwriting of loans pursuant to the warehouse facility will be subject to joint credit approval by Oppenheimer and CIBC. In doing so, CIBC would benefit from the future success of Oppenheimer & Co. Some speculated that this sale was the result of the 2005 settlement of the civil lawsuits related to CIBC's entanglement with Enron
for about $3 billion. It was one of the largest such settlements to date and believed to adversely affect CIBC operations. For many CIBC World Markets employees who remained from the original Oppenheimer & Co., the sale was reunification of sorts. The deal closed on January 14, 2008, yet both entities will share infrastructure for sometime and possibly office buildings. This includes 300 Madison Avenue, the building once set out to be the New York, CIBC Center; however, sublet to PriceWaterhouseCoopers
after a concern of having all employees under one roof following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the sale of the U.S. retail brokerage division to Fahnestock.
International
Investment banking
An investment bank is a financial institution that assists individuals, corporations and governments in raising capital by underwriting and/or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities...
, financial advisory services, capital markets services, asset management, wealth management
Wealth management
Wealth management is an investment advisory discipline that incorporates financial planning, investment portfolio management and a number of aggregated financial services...
, and related products and services worldwide. The company, which once occupied the One World Financial Center
One World Financial Center
One World Financial Center is a skyscraper in Lower Manhattan, New York City.It is located at 200 Liberty Street between South End Avenue and West Street. It was built in 1985 as part of the World Financial Center complex. It is a 40 story building reaching the height of 577 ft . It has a...
building in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, now bases its operations at 300 Madison Avenue and world headquarters at 125 Broad Street in New York, NY.
History
The company was founded in 1950 when a partnership was created to act as a broker-dealerBroker-dealer
A broker-dealer is a term used in United States financial services regulations. It is a natural person, a company or other organization that trades securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers....
and manage related financial services for large institutional clients, but origins of the firm trace back to 1881. The 1960s and 1970s was a time of great prosperity for the company, which eventually led to the 1975 restructuring. Oppenheimer & Co. formed three operating subsidiaries:
- Oppenheimer & Co., Inc., a retail brokerage firm
- Oppenheimer Capital Corporation, an institutional investment manager
- Oppenheimer Management Corp. (now OppenheimerFunds, Inc.)
In the 1980s, OpCo founding partners began looking for a buyer. Mercantile House Holdings, PLC, a publicly owned British corporation made an offer in 1982, which was accepted and closed a year later. In 1986, a majority interest was bought in Oppenheimer & Co and Oppenheimer Capital by the firm’s management, Stephen Robert and Nathan Gantcher, along with a small group of their colleagues from Mercantile, for $150 million. A year later, British & Commonwealth Holdings, PLC, acquired Mercantile. The 1990s brought another separation of the original firm when Oppenheimer Capital's senior personnel acquired a majority interest in the subsidiary and separated from OpCo. In 1995, Robert and Gantcher, who controlled about 40 percent of OpCo's equity, became eager to locate additional capital to grow their firm. At first, OpCo explored options of forming a possible alliance with ING Groep NV
ING Group
The ING Group is a global financial institution offering retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, asset management, and insurance services. ING is the Dutch member of the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, a cooperative consortium of 11 prominent European banks...
that eventually fell through. Carrying on with this goal, management set out to merge with a bulge bracket bank that has access to the foreign markets.
Robert and Gantcher entertained offers from the second-largest private German financial institution and retail bank, Bayerische Vereinsbank. On Thursday, May 8, 1997, the Wall Street Journal announced that Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank Corp. was in talks to buy Oppenheimer & Co. for about $500 million in cash, stock, and options. The article’s source warned that PNC and Oppenheimer hadn't arrived at a fixed price and that chatter could break the formal agreement, which was two weeks or more away. Analysts speculated that PNC would be paying too much for a brokerage house that no longer carried the brand-recognition it once did in the securities industry. Only 13 days following the announcement, the Bloomberg News desk announced that for the third time in two years, OpCo had been abandoned by a prospective buyer. Two months later, it was announced that CIBC wanted to expand its brokerage business and was interested in the New York-based investment banking firm, which had annual revenues of $800 million and 680 brokers who sell stocks and bonds.
CIBC Oppenheimer
Nathan Gantcher, who joined Oppenheimer & Co. as a stockbroker in 1968, along with his partner Stephen Robert, who joined Oppenheimer Management, Inc. the same year as a portfolio manager, began talks with CIBC in July 1997. Fourth time being the charmed, CIBC closed on Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. in November 1997, for $525 million and was paid over the next three years and included $175 million in order to retain the loyalty of key Oppenheimer executives who were not shareholders in the closely held private firm. The purchase was made through CIBC's existing US-based investment banking arm, CIBC Wood GundyCIBC Wood Gundy
CIBC Wood Gundy is the is the Canadian retail brokerage division of CIBC World Markets, a division of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.CIBC Wood Gundy maintains a network of 1,400 brokers working in over 100 branches across Canada...
. However, with the deal having been closed, the firm's name was changed to CIBC Oppenheimer Holdings. CIBC Wood Gundy continued to operate as the operating name in Canada, yet all European and Asian subsidiaries took the CIBC Oppenheimer name.
In 2003, CIBC made the decision to sell Oppenheimer’s retail brokerage business and name for $257 million to Fahnestock Viner Holdings, which subsequently changed its name to Oppenheimer. This separation was a sore wound among the institutional employees. Upon this sale, CIBC unified all CIBC Wood Gundy and CIBC Oppenheimer operations under the CIBC World Markets
CIBC World Markets
CIBC World Markets is the investment banking subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The firm operates as an investment bank both in the domestic and international equity and debt capital markets...
name.
Fahnestock Viner Holdings
Fahnestock Viner is a company, which traces it lineage back to Harris C. Fahnestock, an investment banker who was a founding member of one of Citigroup's predecessors, the First National Bank of New York. In 1881, Harris' son William forms his own investment bank at Two Wall StreetWall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
, Fahnestock & Co. which expanded through the decades and was eventually acquired in 1988 by E.A. Viner Holdings, Ltd. The new company, Fahnestock Viner Holdings, would eventually change its name in 2003 upon the acquisition of CIBC Oppenheimer's retail brokerage business (the Private Client and U.S. Asset Management Divisions). Upon this acquisition, the new Oppenheimer & Co. would attempt to build an institutional division brandishing the once infamous Oppenheimer moniker. After several unsuccessful tries, Oppenheimer & Co. in late 2007 announced that they would be purchasing certain assets from CIBC World Markets.
CIBC World Markets
On November 4, 2007, CIBC announced from Toronto that they agreed to sell to Oppenheimer & Co. its U.S. domestic investment banking, equities, leveraged finance and related debt capital markets businesses. The transaction also included CIBC's Israeli investment banking and equities business, and certain parts of other U.S. capital markets-related businesses located in the UK and Asia. The formal agreement dictated that Oppenheimer would borrow $100 million from CIBC in the form of a subordinated debtSubordinated debt
In finance, subordinated debt is debt which ranks after other debts should a company fall into receivership or bankruptcy....
as well warehouse facility provided by the Canadian bank. The warehousing facility initially up to $1.5 billion would allow the newly-formed Oppenheimer U.S. entity to finance and hold the syndicated loans for U.S. middle market companies. Underwriting of loans pursuant to the warehouse facility will be subject to joint credit approval by Oppenheimer and CIBC. In doing so, CIBC would benefit from the future success of Oppenheimer & Co. Some speculated that this sale was the result of the 2005 settlement of the civil lawsuits related to CIBC's entanglement with Enron
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...
for about $3 billion. It was one of the largest such settlements to date and believed to adversely affect CIBC operations. For many CIBC World Markets employees who remained from the original Oppenheimer & Co., the sale was reunification of sorts. The deal closed on January 14, 2008, yet both entities will share infrastructure for sometime and possibly office buildings. This includes 300 Madison Avenue, the building once set out to be the New York, CIBC Center; however, sublet to PriceWaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms....
after a concern of having all employees under one roof following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the sale of the U.S. retail brokerage division to Fahnestock.
Business groups
- Wealth Management
- Oppenheimer Asset Management
- Oppenheimer Trust Company
- Capital Markets
Major locations
- New York, New York
- Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
- Houston, TexasHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
- Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
- San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
International
- LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK - Toronto, Canada
- Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, SAR - Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
Business
- Henry BlodgetHenry BlodgetHenry Blodget is an American former equity research analyst, currently banned from the securities industry, who was senior Internet analyst for CIBC Oppenheimer during the dot-com bubble and the head of the global Internet research team at Merrill Lynch...
- Equity Research analyst - Meredith WhitneyMeredith WhitneyMeredith Ann Whitney is a banking analyst and frequent contributor to CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg News programs. Based in New York City, Whitney manages her own advisory firm, Meredith Whitney Advisory Group LLC, where she produces company-specific equity research on financial institutions...
- Equity Research analyst - Steve EismanSteve EismanSteve Eisman is a money manager famous for shorting securitized subprime home mortgages. Eisman currently works for FrontPoint Partners, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley.-FrontPoint Partners:...
- Equity Research analyst - Fadel Gheit - Equity Research analyst
- Chris Kotowski - Equity Research analyst
- Shaul Eyal - Equity Research analyst
- Yair Reiner - Equity Research analyst
- Brian Belski - Market Strategist
- Carter Braxton WorthCarter WorthCarter Braxton Worth is an American financial analyst and stock market strategist. He is the chief market technician and a managing director at Oppenheimer & Co....
- Technical Analyst