Evercore Inc., formerly known as Evercore Partners,[2] is a global independent
investment bankingadvisory firm founded in 1995 by
Roger Altman,
David Offensend, and
Austin Beutner.[3] The firm has advised on over $4.7 trillion of merger, acquisition, and restructuring transactions since its founding.[4] Evercore is widely considered one of the most prestigious and elite investment banking advisory firms.[5]
Evercore is headquartered in
New York City and serves clients from 28 offices in 11 countries across North America, Europe, South America and Asia, with approximately 1,950 employees globally.[6]
Evercore Partners was founded by
Roger C. Altman in 1995, on the basis that clients would be best served by an
investment banking firm free of the conflicts of interest of large financial institutions like
Goldman Sachs and
Merrill Lynch.
Roger Altman began his career in investment banking at
Lehman Brothers, serving as general partner until 1977. After a role as assistant secretary of the
U.S. Treasury until 1981, Altman returned to Lehman as co-head of global investment banking.
In 1987, Altman joined
The Blackstone Group as its head of advisory business before returning to the
U.S. Treasury to serve as deputy secretary in 1993.
In 1995, Altman founded Evercore Partners.
Today, Evercore operates as the world's leading
independent investment bank, where Altman continues to serve as Senior Chairman in the business.[8]
Recent activities
In 2009 Evercore advised
Wyeth in the largest deal of the year. In 2010 the firm advised
Genzyme in the largest healthcare deal of the year.[9]
In August 2011, the firm completed its acquisition of Lexicon Partners, an independent UK-based investment banking advisory firm.[10]
In October 2011, Evercore and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited ("Kotak Investment Banking") (a subsidiary of
Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited), announced that the two firms had entered into an exclusive
strategic alliance for cross-border M&A advisory services between India and the United States, the United Kingdom, and Mexico.[10]
In November 2011, the firm announced that it had agreed to purchase a 45% non-controlling interest in ABS Investment Management, an institutionally focused equity long/short hedge fund of funds manager.[10]
In 2012 Evercore advised
Kraft in the largest Consumer/Retail deal of the year, as well as TNK-BP in the largest Energy deal of the year.[11][12]
In 2013 Evercore advised
Dell in the largest technology deal of the year.[13]
In April 2014, former Evercore banker Perkins Hixon pleaded guilty to insider trading in the securities of Evercore, Westway Group Inc. and
Titanium Metals Corporation[14] from 2010 to 2013. He resigned from the company earlier in 2014.[15]
In August 2014, Evercore announced the acquisition of International Strategy & Investment ("ISI") Group for $440 million.[16][17] The deal was closed the following October to create Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, offering Macro and Fundamental Research, Sales, and Trading execution. In 2014, the firm secured the second highest number of
Institutional Investor #1 positions, after
J.P. Morgan, and also ranked No. 5 in total II positions.[18] The same year, Evercore advised
AstraZeneca in its defense against
Pfizer's hostile takeover.
Other M&A assignments include advising
DuPont on its $68 billion merger of equals with The
Dow Chemical Company to create
DowDuPont;[19] Medivation on its sale to Pfizer Inc., and
Abbott Laboratories on its $31 billion acquisition of
St. Jude Medical in the two largest Healthcare transactions of 2016.[20] In addition, the company advised
Qualcomm on its pending acquisition of
NXP Semiconductors NV in the largest Technology transaction of that year. Evercore also advised
Centurylink on its pending acquisition of Level 3 Communications Inc. in the largest Telecom transaction of 2016, and
Tesla, Inc. on its $2 billion acquisition of
SolarCity.[21]
Also in 2016, John S. Weinberg joined Evercore from
Goldman Sachs as Chairman of the Board and Executive Chairman.[22]
In 2017, Evercore advised
Coach, Inc. on its $2 billion acquisition of
Kate Spade New York;[23]Whole Foods Market on its $14 billion sale to
Amazon;[24]CVS on its acquisition of
Aetna in the largest Healthcare deal of the year; and
Qualcomm on its successful defense against Broadcom in the largest contested Technology deal ever.[25]