Merrill Lynch eyes overseas acquisitions |
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Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:39
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NEW YORK (AFX) - Merrill Lynch & Co., the nation's largest brokerage, might look outside the U.S. to make acquisitions as a way to enhance its growing overseas business, the company's chief financial officer said Thursday.The New York-based company, which reported record 2006 earnings earlier in the day, said 37 percent of its $34.7 billion in 2006 revenue came from abroad. Merrill has tapped into a growing market for acquisitions and stock trading overseas, which is showing growth that far outpaces the U.S.CFO Jeff Edwards, in a conference call after Merrill reported fourth-quarter profit rose 68 percent, said the company hopes to foster international growth through acquisitions and organic growth this year. Organic growth typically excludes the effects of mergers and acquisitions.'As a general matter, there are more opportunities to grow outside the U.S.,' he said. 'We will look for places where an acquisition can accelerate a growth opportunity, but we will remain disciplined.'Edwards doesn't predict any large, transformative deals, and instead prefers smaller 'bolt-on' acquisitions. Areas like investment banking and equity finance are a few areas that could stand to benefit, but he would not identify specific targets or regions the company might be looking at.Merrill has spent some $2.6 billion to make 17 acquisitions -- both foreign and domestic -- within the past two years. Last year, the company acquired boutique investment bank Petrie Parkman & Co. and home lender First Franklin Financial Corp.In addition, Merrill spent about $10 billion to acquire a 49.8 percent stake in asset manager BlackRock Inc. The company's asset management business was then folded into BlackRock, making it one of the industry leaders.Shares of the company fell 89 cents to $96.72 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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