Banco Espirito to buy majority of Execution Noble

By Richard Lee, STAFF WRITER

Published: 09:03 p.m., Thursday, February 25, 2010

Small Portuguese and British investment banking operations are targeting U.S. growth with Banco Espirito Santo de Investimento S.A.'s anticipated purchase of a 50.1 percent stake in London-based Execution Noble, an investment banking and securities firm with its U.S. operations in Greenwich.

The purchase is expected to close within six weeks. Execution Noble's staff and senior management will remain significant shareholders.

The deal comes after Execution Holding's purchase ofNoble Group Holdings, a mid- and small-capital specialist investment bank, in December.

Negotiations between Lisbon-based Banco Espirito Santo de Investimento and Execution Holdings were going on while Execution was planning the purchase of Noble, said Gary Cunningham, chief executive officer of Execution Noble, who is based at the U.S. operations, where the firm employs 18.

Banco Espirito Santo de Investimento encouraged Execution to proceed with the acquisition because of the value of Noble's expertise in the investment banking industry, he said, noting that Banco Espirito Santo de Investimento has a presence in the Brazilian banking industry, as well as in Latin American and Asian equities.

"They'll use this as a springboard to get well known over here," Cunningham said. "We'll work closely with BESI to develop their products in North America."

With Banco Espirito Santo de Investimento, Execution Noble's capital base will be strengthened and the equities and fixed-income teams will be widened to provide an emerging-markets securities franchise and specialized Iberian coverage, said Nick Finegold, chairman of Execution Noble.