Geneva Cos. Is Leading Merger and Acquisition Derby

The Geneva Cos., a Costa Mesa investment banking firm specializing in small and medium-size transactions, initiated and completed more mergers and acquisitions than any other company during the first half of 1987, a financial newsletter has reported.

Corporate Financing Week, which tracks merger and acquisition activity, credited Geneva with 24 transactions during the first half of the year. Runners-up were PaineWebber Inc., with 15 transactions, and Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., with 13. The publication ranked firms only by the number of initiated and completed deals, not by their dollar value.

“We believe this marks the first time that a California-based firm has topped all the Wall Street firms in the number of transactions initiated and closed,” said Arthur D. Perrone Jr., president of Geneva Business Services. “There is tremendous interest in acquiring profitable, established, closely held businesses,” he said.

Last year, Geneva was ranked second by the newsletter, with 36 transactions for the full year.