William Blair & Company, a global investment banking and asset management firm, announces the further expansion of its technology investment banking group with the addition of Robert Abbe and Per-Ake Stahl, as managing directors, and Charles Ruppert as vice president in William Blair’s San Francisco office. With nearly 40 years of combined technology investment banking experience, the team will focus on the mobile sector and significant opportunities created as a result of the impact of connected devices on the broader technology landscape. The team will also bolster the firm’s technology merger-and-acquisition advisory capabilities, strengthen the firm’s Silicon Valley relationship base, and complement existing William Blair technology investment banking practices in areas such as communications, software, telematics, and Internet and digital media.
“By expanding our capabilities, William Blair extends our leading emerging growth technology investment banking practice. In particular, with the addition of mobile technology expertise, we now have deep domain coverage across all sectors of the technology landscape,” said Rob Metzger, head of technology investment banking. “Across all of our technology industry subsectors, we see significant convergence into the mobile arena and are thrilled about teaming with Robert, Per-Ake, and Charles to better serve our clients.”
“The team shares our commitment to offering clients exceptional service and unbiased advice,” said Brent Gledhill, William Blair’s global head of corporate finance. “We believe that over the last 24 months we have assembled the market’s strongest technology investment banking practice focused exclusively on growth companies, and we are well positioned for significant long term success.”
Since 2010, William Blair’s technology investment banking group has completed more than 80 transactions with a combined value of more than $12.4 billion. At present, the firm’s equity research group covers more than 550 companies, with about 115 from the technology sector.
Mr. Abbe joins from Morgan Keegan’s San Francisco office, where he was a managing director. Before that, he spent 15 years with Jefferies in Silicon Valley, where he most recently led Jefferies’s West Coast technology merger-and-acquisition practice with a significant track record in communications technology, wireless, and infrastructure software. Mr. Abbe earned his B.A. in economics from the University of Colorado and his M.B.A. from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College.
Mr. Stahl, CFA, joins from Morgan Keegan’s San Francisco office, where he was a managing director. Prior to that, he led the West Coast communications, and wireless investment banking team at Jefferies, and before that was the director of M&A for Nokia in the United States. Mr. Stahl holds a diploma in European Affairs from SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, and earned his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business.
Mr. Ruppert joins from Morgan Keegan’s San Francisco office, where he was a vice president in communications technology investment banking. Before that, he was an associate in the technology group at Jefferies. Mr. Ruppert earned his B.A. from Northwest Nazarene University and his M.B.A. in finance and strategy from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
About William Blair Investment Banking
William Blair’s investment banking group combines significant transaction experience, rich industry knowledge, and deep relationships to deliver successful advisory and financing solutions to our global base of corporate clients. We serve both publicly traded and privately held companies, executing mergers and acquisitions, growth financing, special situations and restructuring, and general advisory projects. This comprehensive suite of services allows us to be a long-term partner to our clients as they grow and evolve. In 2011, the investment banking group completed nearly 60 merger-and-acquisition transactions worth more than $12.5 billion in value, involving parties in 21 countries and five continents, and was an underwriter on over 20% of all U.S. initial public offerings.
About William Blair & Company, L.L.C.
William Blair & Company is a global investment banking and asset management firm. We are committed to building enduring relationships with our clients and providing expertise and solutions to meet their evolving needs. An independent and employee-owned firm, William Blair is based in Chicago, with office locations in 10 cities including London, New York, Shanghai, and Zurich. For more information, please visit williamblair.com.
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