One of Dublin's oldest stockbrokers is discussing a merger with a larger financial services firm, a deal that would create a significant new brokerage with a strong private client base, The Irish Times has learned.
Butler & Briscoe, which has operated in Dublin for more than 75 years, is likely to merge with Dolmen Securities, founded in 1994.
Neither company would comment last night on the deal, but industry sources said talks had been underway for some weeks, and were now drawing to a conclusion.
"We have been co-operating with Dolmen in recent times, including in the area of corporate finance. We have very good relations with them," said a spokesman for Butler & Briscoe. "But beyond that I cannot comment."
One of the oldest stockbrokers in Ireland, Butler & Briscoe employs around 20 people.
Up until five years ago it was the official Government broker, a role that ended when the Government introduced a market-making system for its bonds.
Since then, Butler & Briscoe has set up a joint venture with the British broker, Garban, which now operates as the inter-dealer broker, dealing between the market-making firms in the Government bond market.
While Butler & Briscoe has a very small share of the institutional investment market, industry observers say the most attractive part of Butler & Briscoe's portfolio is its large number of private customers. This client base, built up over many years, includes the assets of many wealthy private investor clients.
The company suffered a blow in recent months with the death of a senior partner, Mr John O'Driscoll.
Dolmen Securities was founded four years ago by Mr Ronan Reid and Mr Paul McGowan and has been expanding aggressively. The company focuses on investment broking, fund management and corporate finance and has some 450 million deutschmarks (around £180 million) in funds under management.
Last year, a German insurance company now part of the ERGO group paid more than £1 million for a 50 per cent stake in the firm.
According to company documents, Dolmen operates intermediary dealing arrangements with a number of Dublin and London stockbroking firms, and has been licensed by the Revenue Commissioners to offer clients Special Portfolio Investment Accounts, which carry a special 10 per cent tax rate.
Earlier this year, Dolmen was responsible for the successful flotations on the DCM and AIM markets of Rapid Technology Group (RTG) and the precision measurement company, SupaRule.
Industry analysts said last night that the acquisition of Butler & Briscoe would give Dolmen a better business spread.
The firm has been expanding rapidly in recent months; it now has 27 employees compared to just 10 this time last year.
