SAN DIEGO, April 24, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Sagient Research Systems, a leading publisher of independent research for the financial services and institutional investment communities, today announced that Rodman & Renshaw, LLC ranked as the number one most active investment bank and Downsview Capital, Inc. ranked as the number one most active institutional investor in the PIPE market during the first quarter of 2008.
Sagient Research also announced that Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference, LLP ranked as the number one most active issuer counsel, Schulte Roth & Zabel, LLP ranked as the number one most active investor counsel, and Feldman Weinstein, LLP ranked as the number one most active placement agent counsel in the PIPE market during the first quarter of 2008.
PlacementTracker, a flagship product of Sagient Research Systems, is well recognized as the leading provider of research, data, and analytics covering the PIPE market.
Commenting on the League Tables, Robert F. Kyle, executive vice president of Sagient Research said, "There was an undeniable slowdown in core PIPE issuances in the first quarter of 2008. The greater volatility in the marketplace kept more issuers on the sidelines and more investors seeking appropriate pricing levels. We are encouraged by an increase in deal flow since mid-March and we expect that the second quarter will yield better opportunities for active market participants. In terms of dollars raised, the first quarter continued the record breaking pace initiated last year. With $43.36 Billion raised in 266 transactions, the dollars raised in the first quarter eclipsed the total dollars raised in the first three quarters of 2007 combined. A small group of Mega-PIPE transactions in the financial services and natural resources continued to dominate the deal roster. Still, regular market participants remained active in the first quarter and, as always, we congratulate all of the agents, investors, and legal counsel in the PIPE market for a strong first quarter, especially those leaders who topped the League Tables. Many of these firms are long-time clients of PlacementTracker, and we look forward to continuing to provide them with industry leading data, research, and analytics to help keep them on top of this market."
PlacementTracker's dynamically updating League Tables are available online at: http://www.sagientresearch.com/pt/leaguetables.cfm.
The 2008 PIPE Market Investment Banking League Table
----------------------------------------------------
By Number of Transactions (through 3/31/08):
--------------------------------------------
Transaction
Placement Agent Name Count Total Amount Placed
-------------------- ----------- -------------------
Rodman & Renshaw, LLC 11 $ 135,635,535.00
Lazard 6 $ 721,154,900.00
Roth Capital Partners, LLC 5 $ 99,709,597.00
Midtown Partners & Co., LLC 4 $ 12,508,255.00
Merriman Curhan Ford & Company 3 $ 118,205,749.00
Westminster Securities Corporation 3 $ 21,353,000.00
Emerging Growth Equities, Ltd. 3 $ 12,982,493.00
Maxim Group LLC 3 $ 11,750,000.00
UBS Investment Bank 2 $2,820,875,719.00
Oppenheimer/CIBC 2 $1,501,771,619.00
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. 2 $ 760,000,000.00
Canaccord Adams, Inc. 2 $ 112,000,001.00
Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. 2 $ 55,895,903.00
Global Hunter Securities, LLC 2 $ 30,650,000.00
Empire Asset Management Company 2 $ 9,810,000.00
Palladium Capital Advisors, LLC 2 $ 6,353,000.00
T.R. Winston & Company, Inc. 2 $ 5,855,331.00
Empire Financial Group, Inc. 2 $ 5,207,496.00
First Montauk Securities, Inc. 2 $ 4,650,000.00
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. 1 $1,350,000,000.00
Morgan Stanley 1 $ 305,340,000.00
Jefferies & Company, Inc. 1 $ 100,000,000.00
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC 1 $ 95,000,000.00
JMP Securities LLC 1 $ 60,000,000.00
Brean Murray, Carret & Co. 1 $ 50,000,000.00
Investment Banking rankings exclude all 144-A Offerings, Reg S Placements, Equity Lines of Credit, and all PIPE transactions conducted by Canadian issuers that trade in the U.S. on the OTC-BB or Pink Sheets. On transactions where an investment banking firm has acted solely as Financial Advisor, that transaction has been excluded from that firm's ranking. Co-agented transactions award full transaction credit to all agents participating (regardless of status of lead agent or co-agent). Data is as reported as of 4/22/08.
The 2008 PIPE Market Investment Banking League Table
----------------------------------------------------
By Total Amount Placed (through 3/31/08):
-----------------------------------------
Transaction
Placement Agent Name Count Total Amount Placed
-------------------- ----------- -------------------
UBS Investment Bank 2 $2,820,875,719.00
Oppenheimer/CIBC 2 $1,501,771,619.00
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. 1 $1,350,000,000.00
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. 2 $ 760,000,000.00
Lazard 6 $ 721,154,900.00
Morgan Stanley 1 $ 305,340,000.00
Rodman & Renshaw, LLC 11 $ 135,635,535.00
Merriman Curhan Ford & Company 3 $ 118,205,749.00
Canaccord Adams, Inc. 2 $ 112,000,001.00
Jefferies & Company, Inc. 1 $ 100,000,000.00
Roth Capital Partners, LLC 5 $ 99,709,597.00
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC 1 $ 95,000,000.00
JMP Securities LLC 1 $ 60,000,000.00
Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. 2 $ 55,895,903.00
Brean Murray, Carret & Co. 1 $ 50,000,000.00
First Asia Finance Group Limited 1 $ 50,000,000.00
Kildare Capital 1 $ 50,000,000.00
Source Capital Group 1 $ 40,000,000.00
Pacific Growth Equities, Inc. 1 $ 30,895,900.00
Global Hunter Securities, LLC 2 $ 30,650,000.00
Casimir Capital L.P. 1 $ 30,000,000.00
Banc of America Securities LLC 1 $ 25,093,400.00
Four Tong Investments, Ltd. 1 $ 22,000,032.00
Median Asset Investments Limited 1 $ 22,000,032.00
Ardour Capital Investments, LLC 1 $ 21,400,000.00
Knight Capital Markets, LLC 1 $ 21,400,000.00
Investment Banking rankings exclude all 144-A Offerings, Reg S Placements, Equity Lines of Credit, and all PIPE transactions conducted by Canadian issuers that trade in the U.S. on the OTC-BB or Pink Sheets. On transactions where an investment banking firm has acted solely as Financial Advisor, that transaction has been excluded from that firm's ranking. Co-agented transactions award full transaction credit to all agents participating (regardless of status of lead agent or co-agent). Data is as reported as of 4/22/08.
The 2008 PIPE Market Institutional Investor League Table
--------------------------------------------------------
By Number of Transactions (through 3/31/08):
--------------------------------------------
Transaction
Investor Name Count Total Amount Invested
------------- ----------- ---------------------
Downsview Capital, Inc. 9 $ 11,323,377.00
Enable Capital Management 8 $ 8,215,000.00
Midsummer Capital, LLC 7 $ 5,525,000.00
Quercus Trust (The) 6 $ 68,039,998.00
Highbridge International, LLC 6 $ 29,292,859.00
Whitebox Advisors, LLC 6 $ 27,392,000.00
Hudson Bay Capital Management L.P. 6 $ 18,349,676.00
Iroquois Capital L.P. 6 $ 13,164,911.00
Gemini Strategies, LLC 6 $ 3,253,000.00
Heights Capital Management, Inc. 5 $ 36,700,000.00
Yorkville Advisors, LLC 5 $ 21,500,000.00
Ramius LLC 5 $ 21,367,857.00
Professional Traders Fund LLC 5 $ 10,150,000.00
Goldman Sachs & Co. 4 $ 37,968,750.00
Sandell Asset Management Corporation 4 $ 16,208,255.00
Pope Asset Management LLC 4 $ 15,700,000.00
Guerilla Partners LP 4 $ 6,535,714.00
Global Capital Advisors, LLC 4 $ 3,598,379.00
LH Financial Services Corporation 4 $ 2,750,000.00
Jayhawk Capital Management, L.L.C. 4 $ 2,249,998.00
Heller Capital Partners 4 $ 1,805,000.00
Chestnut Ridge Partners, L.P. 4 $ 873,370.00
Octagon Capital Partners 4 $ 261,228.00
Vision Capital Advisors LLC 3 $ 14,000,000.00
Ardsley Partners, L.P. 3 $ 13,448,672.00
Investor rankings exclude all 144-A Offerings, Reg S Placements, Equity Lines of Credit, and all PIPE transactions conducted by Canadian issuers that trade in the U.S. on the OTC-BB or Pink Sheets. Investors classified as Corporate Investors and Insurance Companies have been excluded from this ranking. Data is as reported as of 4/22/08.
The 2008 PIPE Market Issuer Counsel League Table
------------------------------------------------
By Number of Transactions (through 3/31/08):
--------------------------------------------
Transaction
Legal Counsel Count Total Amount Advised
------------- ----------- --------------------
Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference, LLP 7 $ 23,475,000.00
Richardson & Patel, LLP 6 $ 33,400,000.00
Latham & Watkins, LLP 5 $ 90,547,858.00
Greenberg Traurig, LLP 5 $ 28,250,001.00
Clark Wilson, LLP 5 $ 20,700,000.00
Heller Ehrman, LLP 4 $1,426,154,999.00
Cooley Godward Kronish LLP 4 $ 86,701,298.00
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP 4 $ 11,885,000.00
Jones Day 3 $ 890,000,000.00
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr, LLP 3 $ 50,093,400.00
Hodgson Russ, LLP 3 $ 35,500,000.00
Haynes and Boone, LLP 3 $ 31,000,000.00
Guzof Ofsink, LLC 3 $ 30,159,598.00
Graubard Miller 3 $ 27,893,791.00
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston
Gates Ellis LLP 3 $ 14,500,000.00
Holland & Knight, LLP 3 $ 4,500,000.00
Shearman & Sterling, LLP 2 $1,555,340,000.00
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz 2 $ 760,000,000.00
Troutman Sanders, LLP 2 $ 357,500,000.00
Loeb & Loeb, LLP 2 $ 62,000,001.00
Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP 2 $ 55,000,000.00
Foley & Lardner 2 $ 52,000,000.00
Rutan & Tucker, LLP 2 $ 42,499,999.00
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP 2 $ 40,685,302.00
Crone Rozynko LLP 2 $ 16,200,000.00
Legal counsel rankings exclude all 144-A Offerings, Reg S Placements, Equity Lines of Credit, and all PIPE transactions conducted by Canadian issuers that trade in the U.S. on the OTC-BB or Pink Sheets. Data is as reported as of 4/22/08.
The 2008 PIPE Market Investor Counsel League Table
--------------------------------------------------
By Number of Transactions (through 3/31/08):
--------------------------------------------
Transaction
Legal Counsel Count Total Amount Advised
------------- ----------- --------------------
Schulte Roth & Zabel, LLP 17 $1,766,135,898.00
Feldman Weinstein, LLP 7 $ 41,960,000.00
Greenberg Traurig, LLP 5 $ 148,988,132.00
Ropes & Gray 3 $ 57,772,863.00
Cooley Godward Kronish LLP 3 $ 46,022,863.00
Torys, LLP 2 $ 367,351,298.00
Winston & Strawn 2 $ 52,998,727.00
Greenberg, Glusker, Fields,
Claman, Macktinger & Kinsella, LLP 2 $ 43,640,000.00
Goodwin Procter, LLP 2 $ 40,250,000.00
Loeb & Loeb, LLP 2 $ 18,000,000.00
McDermott, Will & Emery 2 $ 11,934,925.00
Muller & Lebensburger 2 $ 10,500,000.00
Anslow & Jaclin, LLP 2 $ 7,025,000.00
James G. Dodrill II, P.A 2 $ 3,200,000.00
Grushko & Mittman, PC 2 $ 3,150,000.00
Davis Polk & Wardell 1 $1,250,000,000.00
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz 1 $ 502,000,000.00
Adorno & Yoss, PA 1 $ 495,000,000.00
Shearman & Sterling, LLP 1 $ 350,000,000.00
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr, LLP 1 $ 305,340,000.00
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson 1 $ 265,000,000.00
Willkie, Farr & Gallagher 1 $ 250,000,000.00
Reed Smith, LLP 1 $ 131,234,548.00
Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, LLP 1 $ 54,350,000.00
Sullivan & Cromwell 1 $ 50,000,000.00
Legal counsel rankings exclude all 144-A Offerings, Reg S Placements, Equity Lines of Credit, and all PIPE transactions conducted by Canadian issuers that trade in the U.S. on the OTC-BB or Pink Sheets. Data is as reported as of 4/22/08
The 2008 PIPE Market Placement Agent Counsel League Table
---------------------------------------------------------
By Number of Transactions (through 3/31/08):
--------------------------------------------
Transaction
Legal Counsel Count Total Amount Advised
------------- ----------- --------------------
Feldman Weinstein, LLP 9 $ 107,066,535.00
Lowenstein Sandler, PC 3 $ 48,155,752.00
Winston & Strawn 3 $ 36,759,597.00
Proskauer Rose, LLP 2 $ 154,350,000.00
O'Melveny & Myers, LLP 1 $ 60,000,000.00
Morse Zelnick Rose & Lander 1 $ 6,000,000.00
Keesal, Young & Logan 1 $ 5,650,000.00
Grushko & Mittman, PC 1 $ 4,850,000.00
Meyner and Landis, LLP 1 $ 1,500,000.00
Legal counsel rankings exclude all 144-A Offerings, Reg S Placements, Equity Lines of Credit, and all PIPE transactions conducted by Canadian issuers that trade in the U.S. on the OTC-BB or Pink Sheets. Data is as reported as of 4/22/08.
About Sagient Research Systems
Sagient Research Systems is a publisher of independent research. We develop, produce, and sell proprietary research products to mutual funds, hedge funds, and investment banks. Our business strategy is to continue to leverage our development, technology, and marketing expertise to solidify our position as a leading provider of independent research to the financial services and institutional investment communities. In September 2007, Sagient Research was named to the inaugural Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies. For more information, please visit the Sagient Research Systems website at www.sagientresearch.com.