Execution, a mid-tier, full-service brokerage, has agreed a deal to purchase Noble, a UK-based independent investment bank specialising in small- and mid-caps.
The new group, which will be renamed Execution Noble, will offer execution, equity sales and trading, research, M&A, corporate finance, corporate broking, equity capital markets and corporate access services.
The management team will consist of three Execution directors and two Noble directors. From Execution, Nick Finegold will take the role of executive chairman, Simon Brookhouse will be chief executive and Damien Devine will be chief operating officer of the new entity. Noble’s Angus Macpherson and Charles Ashton will be deputy chief executive and finance director respectively.
The Execution Noble board will also include non-executive directors from the two companies: Ben Thomson; Keith Jones; David Potter; Stephen Curran and Polly Williams.
“Execution Noble will be an integrated securities, capital markets and advisory firm, uniquely placed to serve its clients in a rapidly changing marketplace which has seen dramatic changes in the standing of many of the traditional bulge-bracket investment banks and the recent emergence of a range of small cap focused advisers,” said Nick Finegold, executive chairman of Execution, in a statement.
“Adding Noble’s expertise in small- and mid-cap stocks and investment banking enables Execution Noble to provide a full range of services to corporate and institutional clients,” added Noble chief executive Angus Macpherson. “The combined business of Execution Noble will offer a credible, alternative to traditional full-service investment banks to the benefit of all our clients, staff, and other stakeholders.”
Execution Noble will have some 250 staff and offices in London, Edinburgh, Paris, Frankfurt, New York, Boston, Greenwich, Mumbai and Hong Kong. The deal is subject to approval from UK regulator the Financial Services Authority.