Acquisition stands to deepen Midwest broker-dealer's East Coast footprint. RBC Dain Rauscher plans to buy JB Hanauer & Co., a Parsippany, N.J.-based brokerage with five offices in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida and about $10 billion in assets under administration. Dain Rauscher says the acquisition will expand its presence in Florida's rich retiree market and in the middle part of the lucrative Eastern Seaboard.

The terms of the deal weren't disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in May 2007. Subsequently, Hanauer will operate as a subsidiary of Dain. It will be re-named when its systems conversion is completed.

Morris County

"JB Hanauer represents a strong strategic and cultural fit for our firm, significantly expanding our presence in New Jersey, Florida and Pennsylvania -- all important markets for us," says Dain Rauscher's CEO John Taft.

Minnesota-based Dain Rauscher has about 1,650 advisors in 145 offices in 40 states, including the three in which Hanauer does business. But the acquisition would roughly double Dain Rauscher's presence in New Jersey's Morris County, one of the 10 wealthiest counties in the U.S.

Barry Zucker, Hanauer's CEO, will continue to lead the business, reporting to Jim Chapman, president of the eastern division of Dain's private-client group. "J.B. Hanauer has a 76-year history of providing clients with outstanding investment service," says Zucker. "With the financial strength and full backing of RBC Dain Rauscher, we will be able to serve them even better."

Hanauer, which is owned by its employees, specializes in retail fixed-income and wealth-management services. Though Dain Rauscher says the attraction of the acquisition in mainly in its ability to expand its footprint in three eastern states, it adds that Hanauer's focus on fixed income products and municipal markets aligns well with its own strengths in these areas.

Last month Dain Rauscher's corporate parent Royal Bank of Canada created a new global business segment combining all or parts of Dain Rauscher, Canada's biggest retail brokerage RBC Dominion Securities, RBC Global Private Banking, RBC Asset Management and the Toronto-based bank's trust-service provider. -FWR

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