Evercore Buys Mt. Eden to Boost California Investment Advice

Evercore Partners Inc., the advisory firm founded by Roger Altman, agreed to purchase Mt. Eden Investment Advisors LLC, a San Francisco-based wealth manager with $645 million in client assets.

Mt. Eden’s chief executive officer, Keith McWilliams, and two other executives will join Evercore as partners, the companies said yesterday in a statement that didn’t disclose the deal’s terms. The others new partners are Mt. Eden founding principal Tim Barrett and senior portfolio manager Michael O’Brien. The firm has offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“The expansion of our West Coast presence is an exciting step in our continued growth as a national firm,” Jeff Maurer, CEO of Evercore Wealth Management, said in the statement. The additions will bring Evercore Wealth Management’s partner count to 25 in the U.S., according to the statement.

Evercore, building its advisory team through hiring, is limiting acquisitions to its investment management business, Chief Executive Officer Ralph Schlosstein said on a conference call last month. Mt. Eden, named after a family vineyard, was established in 2004, according to the firm’s website.

Evercore’s investment-management business oversaw $11.6 billion of assets at the end of the third quarter, according to a statement last month. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, pro- forma investment-management net revenue was $62.5 million, or 15 percent of total net revenue, compared with $77.6 million, or 19 percent, in the same period last year.

Global Expansion

The division oversees investments from pensions, endowments and corporations. A wealth-management arm serves family offices and high-net-worth individuals. A private-equity business manages funds and collaborates with Trilantic Capital Partners on investments and transactions.

Evercore has expanded around the globe, partly through acquisitions and partnerships. Last year, it bought Lexicon Partners Ltd., a London-based advisory firm, and in 2010 the company paid $20 million for 50 percent of G5 Advisors, a Sao Paulo-based investment-banking boutique. Evercore said last month it agreed with VTB Capital Plc to develop deals between Russia and North America.

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