Morgan Schiff & Co.

Morgan Schiff & Co. was an investment house founded by Phillip Ean Cohen which was a prominent Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity firm from its founding in the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. The firm was discontinued after the bankruptcy of Friedman's Inc., the largest jewelry bankruptcy of all time.

Morgan Schiff & Company
TypePrivate Partnership
IndustryInvestment Banking, Private Equity
Founded1984
FounderPhillip Ean Cohen
HeadquartersNew York City, San Francisco, Melbourne
Key people
RevenueUSD 550 million (1986)[1]

The firm was named after Jacob Schiff and J.P. Morgan although the firm had no affiliation with either individual.

History

After a power struggle with Jeff Beck, Phillip Ean Cohen left Oppenheimer & Co. to start his own firm. Cohen was offered $1 billion seed funding from Michael Milken, but refused. Despite this, Morgan Schiff initially operated as the Private Equity arm for Drexel Burnham Lambert, and was located directly under Milken's office. Cohen decided to name his firm after two important historical figures on Wall Street, despite their complete lack of affiliation with the firm. When Business Week asked Cohen about the name, he replied, "It was my belief that investment banks should go back to advising clients in a closer format, as in the days of J.P. Morgan and Jacob Schiff." Cohen was considered one of the top minds in Mergers and Acquisitions, and was able to recruit many of his corporate clients from his days at Kuhn Loeb, Lehman Brothers, First Boston, Oppenheimer, and Drexel Burnham Lambert.[2] One of these clients was Zale Corporation, which used Morgan Schiff as an adviser on a $500 million Merger, officially becoming the company's first transaction.

In 1986, despite only having 12 employees and just two partners, Morgan Schiff was one of the 50 largest Mergers and Acquisitions firms in the world[1] The firm continued to grow, eventually opening an office in San Francisco. Morgan Schiff suffered a major set back when one of its largest portfolio companies Friedman's Inc. declared bankruptcy after an SEC investigation found that the company's CEO and CFO lied about the liquidity of their short term customer loan program. The firm eventually closed its doors in 2004.

Art dealer Andy Valmorbida worked at the firm before establishing his gallery.[3]

Former Portfolio Companies/ Clients

Unaffiliated individuals

Sources
  1. Williamson, J.P. (1988). The Investment Banking Handbook. Wiley. p. 223. ISBN 9780471815624. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  2. Rainmaker, Jeff Beck, Page 148
  3. Morris, Bob (6 September 2012). "A Fashion Week Party, Without the Fashion". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
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