Robert Van Securities Acquires Blaylock & Company

Robert Van Securities, Inc. (RVS), a full-service financial services firm, announced today that it has acquired Blaylock & Company, a New York investment banking firm. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Eric Van Standifer, president of RVS, is president and CEO of the combined firm, which has been renamed Blaylock Robert Van LLC. Ronald Blaylock, founder, chairman, and CEO of Blaylock & Company, is non-executive chairman and maintains an ownership position in the new firm. Blaylock & Company’s investment banking, sales and trading, and capital markets professionals will continue to be based in New York City.

Blaylock Robert Van LLC is a leading African-American-owned financial services company with investment banking expertise, a Global Electronic Equity and Fixed Income Trading Platform with direct market access (DMA) to over 40 worldwide exchanges, and a proprietary web-based research platform designed to specifically address the needs of fundamental portfolio managers and analysts. The product, ELROI - The Electronic Analyst, provides algorithmically derived ratings and price targets on a universe of over 4500 domestic stocks and ADRs, and a platform for constructing and testing actionable portfolio strategies.

"When looking to diversify service providers, corporate and public clients increasingly seek firms of scale that can provide solutions to a full range of core investment banking and brokerage requirements. This combination specifically addresses these client needs," said Mr. Standifer. "The acquisition of Blaylock & Company not only combines two of the nation's leading minority-owned investment banking boutiques, but, in particular, pairs a highly regarded capital markets entity with an innovative electronic research and trading organization. The union of such considerable industry experience and management expertise will clearly bring significant advantages to the new firm and be of great benefit to our clients."