Slate Grocery REIT T.SGR

RE: Westwind

[Almelinda]

Oct 01, 2007 07:52 AM THE CANADIAN PRESS SAN FRANCISCO – Thomas Weisel Partners Group Inc. has struck a deal to acquire Westwind Partners of Toronto, an institutionally oriented investment bank focused on energy and mining sectors, for $146.7 million in stock and cash. Westwind, founded in 2002, has offices in Calgary, Montreal and London with about 100 employees. California-based Thomas Weisel Partners said today it will pay $45 million cash and 7.009 million shares to complete the acquisition. Westwind's investment banking team has executed over $17 billion in capital-raising transactions during the last five years and has been lead or co-lead manager in over 140 deals. The staff includes over 20 senior trading and sales professionals and 14 publishing analysts. "I am ... looking forward to Lionel Conacher, Westwind's CEO and president, joining us as president of Thomas Weisel Partners," said Thomas Weisel, CEO and chairman. "This acquisition will give us access to the energy and mining sectors, which are key verticals to expanding internationally and highly complementary to our existing coverage universe. Companies in these sectors are prodigious capital raisers, and our growth brand applied to these sectors is a powerful combination." Weisel said "the Westwind team is very much like our own. They are principled, entrepreneurial, passionate about helping growing companies access the capital markets, and dedicated to providing superior independent advice." Conacher said he and his partners "are very excited by the prospect of leveraging the TWP brand in Canada and abroad. "This transaction comes at an opportune time for the Westwind franchise. Energy and mining have been the major drivers of financings in Canada since 2002. More than 50 per cent of all funds raised in Canada year-to-date have been in these areas and we expect these trends to continue into the future."