ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 8, 1997 TAG: 9704080080
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Analysts disagreed about whether similar business marriages would soon follow, as banks move further into traditional Wall Street territory.
Bankers Trust's plans to buy Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. brokerage spurred a buying flurry in the shares of regional brokerage stocks on Monday as investors bet that similar deals will follow.
The merger is the biggest so far to take advantage of eased restrictions on banks getting into the stock brokerage business. Many analysts have been predicting U.S. banks would start branching deeper into the securities business and some expect big U.S. brokerages could be targeted by big European banks.
``This is really the tip of the iceberg,'' said Frank Barkocy, a banking analyst at Josephthal, Lyon & Ross, Inc. ``I'd be surprised if we didn't see other combinations taking place over the coming months.''
Others wonder whether the latest deal will put much pressure on other banks to find a brokerage partner. Bankers Trust is classified a commercial bank, but has no branch network and is already more like a Wall Street firm. Its clients are exclusively corporations and typically seek investment banking expertise.
Since they don't directly compete with Bankers Trust on all fronts, big consumer banks like Chase Manhattan or Citicorp might not feel a pressing need to gobble up a brokerage.
Bankers Trust and Alex. Brown, the companies said, fit well together because they both have long lists of corporate clients and would be able to offer them a broader range of services.
Pending regulatory approval, Bankers Trust will acquire Alex. Brown, the oldest brokerage firm in the country, in a stock merger valued at $1.65 billion.
LENGTH: Short : 44 linesby CNB