Piper Sandler Companies is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company, focused on mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, public offerings, public finance, institutional brokerage, investment management and securities research. Through its principal subsidiary, Piper Jaffray & Co., the company targets corporations, institutional investors, and public entities. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Piper Jaffray has 55 offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The company was founded in 1895. Piper Jaffray was named one of America's 50 Most Trustworthy Financial Companies by Forbes magazine in 2015 and 2017. Piper Jaffray was also named 2014 Investment Bank of the Year by Mergers & Acquisitions Journal. On July 9, 2019, the company announced an agreement to buy fellow investment bank Sandler O'Neill, with the new combined entity to be called Piper Sandler Cos.
History
Piper Jaffray traces its roots to 1895 when George Lane established George B. Lane, Commercial Paper and Collateral Loans & Co., a commercial paper brokerage, in Minneapolis. In 1913, Piper, Jaffray Co. was established as another commercial paper business by H.C. Piper Sr. and Clive Palmer Jaffray. In 1917, George B. Lane & Co. merged with Piper, Jaffray & Co. to form Lane, Piper & Jaffray. The firm first obtained a seat on the New York Stock Exchange in 1931 with the acquisition of Hopwood & Company, which had been devastated by the stock market crash. In 1971, Piper first offered stock to the public and became a publicly held corporation known as Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood Incorporated. Later, in 1986, Piper's common stock began trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol PIPR. In 1997, the firm was acquired by U.S. Bancorp, also based in Minneapolis, for $730 million in cash. From 1999 to 2003, the firm was known as U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. In 2003, U.S. Bancorp spun off Piper Jaffray in a stock dividend to its shareholders, making the company independent once again under the symbol PJC. In 2006, the company sold its brokerage business to Zurich-based UBS for $510 million in cash. The business had approximately 800 brokers at that time. On July 9, 2019, Piper Jaffray announced they were purchasing fellow investment bank Sandler O'Neill for $485M. The new combined entity was going to be named Piper Sandler Cos, and Piper Jaffray CEO Chad Abraham would continue to lead the combined company.
Operations
Piper Jaffray operates principally through the following business segments:
Investment banking
Within its investment banking division, Piper Jaffray provides advisory and financing services involving:
In 2013, Piper Jaffray was recognized for the second year in a row as the top healthcare investment bank by Global Finance Magazine. In February 2016, Piper Jaffray acquired Houston-based energy firm Simmons & Company International for a total consideration of approximately $139 million, consisting of $91 million in cash and $48 million in restricted stock.
Public finance
Piper Jaffray underwrites debt issuances and provides financial advisory to government and not-for-profit entities. In 2016, the Piper Jaffray public finance group ranked No. 2 for senior-managed underwriting and No. 5 for financial advisory transactions.
Institutional brokerage
Piper Jaffray serves institutional investors and corporate clients through the following segments:
Piper Jaffray provides investment management and advisory services to institutional clients in the areas of equity, fixed income, private equity funds, master limited partnership and merchant banking. In 2010, the company acquired Advisory Research, Inc., a Chicago-based asset management firm with approximately $7 billion in assets under management. Advisory Research provides U.S., international, global and MLP and energy infrastructure strategies to institutional investors.
Diversity
Piper Jaffray has been recognized six years for gender diversity on its board of directors by receiving the "W" distinction from 2020 Women on Boards. This designation is given to companies with corporate boards which are at least 20% women.
Regulator fines
In 2002, Piper Jaffray was fined $25 million by state and federal regulators to settle charges that it provided biased stock ratings as part of the Global Analyst Research Settlements. Other firms, such as JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley were fined for similar reasons. The firm agreed to make structural changes relating to its research and investment banking program to restore confidence in its business.
