CRT Capital Group (CRT) announced today in a joint statement that it has acquired Braver Stern Securities’ (Braver Stern) institutional sales and trading platform.
In accordance with the deal, several of Braver Stern’s top professionals will join CRT’s existing securitized products platform.
The seasoned team includes Joseph Valentine and Rus Margolin, who previously served as the head of institutional fixed income trading and head of non-agency trading at Braver Stern respectively.
According to the press release, the primary interests of the expanded department at CRT will include agency and non-agency RMBS and CMBS, MBS, and asset-backed CDOs.
This transaction offers CRT key experience in the area of securitized products and provides the acquired professionals with the ability to further the achievements they have already made at Braver Stern.
Peter Majar, Managing Director of Freeman & Co., who advised Braver Stern on this transaction, said, “We expect the expanded structured products platform will be a major force in the industry.”
The statement also stressed that this deal was made with the main objectives of both CRT and Braver Stern in mind, which is to better satisfy the needs of their institutional clients.
“CRT continues to be able to use its strong capital base and merit-based culture to attract seasoned talent and expand the securitized products choices it can offer to its institutional clients,” said Ron Kripalani, Chief Executive Officer of CRT.
