Denver-based energy investment banker Petrie Parkman & Co. will be acquired by Merrill Lynch & Co. in a move to give Merrill Lynch a stronger presence in the energy industry.
Petrie Parkman is viewed nationally as a pre-eminent energy investment firm for its expertise in oil and gas transactions, having worked on major mergers and acquisitions the past two decades.
Terms of the deal with Merrill Lynch were not disclosed.
Last month, Petrie Parkman had announced plans to go public with an initial stock offering by selling as much as $115 million of its privately owned shares.
But in the midst of the IPO preparations, “Merrill made an approach to us that was very persuasive in showing how the skill sets of our two firms could meld,” said CEO Tom Petrie.
Petrie said he expects a “substantial” number of the firm’s 50 employees to remain after the merger. Petrie said he will become a vice chairman of Merrill Lynch and a member of the Executive Client Coverage Group, a group of senior officials that call on important clients.
The Lynch deal follows several other similar mergers in which large investment banking firms bought smaller companies specializing in energy.
“We’re seeing firms go deeper in certain industries, particularly energy,” said David Tameron, a Denver-based energy analyst for Wachovia Capital Markets LLC. “This gives Merrill a foot in the door to get more of the energy business.”
Petrie Parkman was founded in 1989 by Thomas Petrie and James Parkman Jr., who jointly own about 67 percent of the stock.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-954-1948 or at sraabe@denverpost.com.
