Oppenheimer Buys Muni Shop in California
The deal should bring Oppenheimer’s 1,030 financial advisors and their clients greater access to municipal bonds in the Golden State.
Oppenheimer & Co. is buying Brandis Tallman, an investment bank focused on California municipal debt.
This transaction should give Oppenheimer’s nearly 1,030 financial advisors and their clients greater access to muni bonds in the Golden State. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Brandis Tallman’s co-founders, Rick Brandis and Nicki Tallman, will continue to lead the business, which has completed some 242 municipal bond transactions since 2016.
“The California municipal bond market is highly complex, but also presents exceptional growth opportunities,” the two said in a joint statement.
Brandis started work in the securities industry in 1985. Tallman worked for Arthur Anderson as a CPA before she moved into municipal finance in 1993. The two founded the firm in 2002.
“We look forward to serving our issuers through even larger underwritings and more robust services with the backing of Oppenheimer,” they added.
Climate for Munis
“In this current economic environment, issuers are increasingly looking for executable solutions to the fiscal challenges brought about by the economic shutdown,” according to Bill Reisner, Oppenheimer’s head of Public Finance Investment Banking.
In addition, “We have also seen a growing number of deals done on a private placement basis, which insulates the issuers from the vagaries of market volatility,” Reisner explained.
The new Brandis Tallman division should position Oppenheimer “to capture significant opportunities driven by both of these trends,” he added.
Oppenheimer’s advisors work with about $79 billion in assets.