Dougherty & Co. LLC, a full-service investment banking firm with headquarters in Minneapolis, will expand next year by acquiring Cronin & Co. Inc.
Terms of the deal for the Minneapolis-based municipal bond dealer were not disclosed, but it is expected to close by the end of the first quarter in 2017.
The firms were both founded in the 1970s and have never been direct competitors, according to a statement from Dougherty. No changes in personnel are expected as a result of the transaction. The combined operation would have about 170 employees, officials said.
"I've admired Cronin from the very first day they opened their doors," said Dougherty Financial Group founder and chairman Mike Dougherty in the statement. "Like us, they are a survivor of all the changes that have occurred within our industry over the last 40 years."
Cronin will round out the business by providing new customers and deepening Dougherty's trading skills, he said. "It's a natural fit."
David Juran, Dougherty's executive vice president, said the acquisition will be a positive for the investment banking group and for clients.
"It will strengthen our abilities in both the trading and sales areas at Dougherty & Company," he said.
Cronin President and Chief Executive Jay Hiniker called the proposed acquisition a "huge win" because it will give customers of each firm access to a wider variety of fixed income choices and products. Cronin's website indicates that it employs nine fixed income professionals with more than 175 years of combined experience who have spent their careers working with individual and institutional customers.
Earlier this year, Dougherty Funding made another significant move to expand its offerings. In June, it hired Murray Kornberg as executive vice president to enhance its institutional capital markets services, including real estate capital. Kornberg was previously a senior vice president at CBRE Capital Markets in Minneapolis, and worked in the Debt & Structured Finance Group that last year completed over $38 billion in loan activity.
Tom Meersman • 612-673-7388
