Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s biggest bank, agreed to buy Daniels & Associates LP to expand its investment banking advisory business for the U.S. cable and telecommunications industry.
The purchase price wasn’t disclosed, the Toronto-based bank said in a statement today. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007.
Daniels has completed more mergers and acquisitions in the cable, broadcast and telecommunications sectors than any other firm in the U.S. over the past six years, the Denver-based bank said. Formed in 1958, the firm has offices in New York and Denver, with about 45 employees.
The company will be renamed RBC Daniels, and Brian Deevy will remain chief executive officer. Daniels ranks 60th this year among financial advisers for the value of U.S. deals, according to Bloomberg data. Daniels advised companies including Verizon Communications Inc. and Charter Communications Inc.
This is the fifth U.S. purchase this year for Royal Bank, after scaling back south of the Canadian border for several years. In August, the bank agreed to buy Flag Financial Corp. to expand its consumer bank in Georgia. In October, the bank agreed to buy New York-based Carlin Financial Group’s brokerage business. And earlier this month, Royal Bank agreed to buy 39 branches in Alabama from AmSouth Bancorporation.
