BANKING / FINANCE
Compiled by James S. Granelli, Times staff writer
Geneva Cos. in Costa Mesa, the nation’s leading middle-market merger and acquisition firm, plans to open an office in London in the next 6 months to serve the foreign buyers it entices into the U.S. takeover scene.
“Somewhere between 15% and 20% of the buyers of our companies are offshore, and most of them are in the European Common Market countries,” said David R. Hoods, president of a Geneva subsidiary, Geneva Marketing Services. “The London office will help us find more clients and serve them better.”
The merger mania that has gripped the nation this year is expected to abate only slightly next year, Hoods said. And activity in the middle market--firms with up to $100 million in revenue--should remain hot, he said.
