Garstin Joins Top Cable TV Broker Daniels

Daniels & Associates, the leading broker of cable TV systems, is shoring up its investment banking unit with the hiring Monday of Michael E. Garstin, who has headed Bear, Stearns’ investment banking team in media and entertainment for six years.

The move comes as the cable industry anticipates an increase in the number of system sales, as banks relax the tight lending policies that stalled most deals during 1990 and ’91.

Garstin, 43, is taking two Bear, Stearns colleagues with him: Associate Director Laura A. Clifford and Associate D. Ryan McNally. The three will continue working in New York, where Denver-based Daniels maintains a Park Avenue office.

“The cable industry is poised for another round of consolidation if you look at all the pools of money that are out there, looking to buy cable,” Clifford said.

In the past, Daniels referred much of the financing work associated with its brokered sales to larger Wall Street firms equipped to raise larger sums through public or private placements. Now, the 14-partner firm will bid aggressively for middle market transactions, which range from $25 million to $100 million.

Despite the near-moratorium in recent cable system sales, Daniels has remained the undisputed leader in the brokerage business. Last year, Daniels handled 20 cable system sales, compared to 12 brokered by its closest competitor, according to Paul Kagan Associates Inc. of Carmel. But the 1991 sales--totaling $354 million--were only a fraction of the business Daniels did in 1989, when the company brokered 55 deals valued at $1.9 billion.

Daniels & Associates is 51%-owned by cable TV pioneer Bill Daniels, who at 71 has cut back his work schedule and spends most of his time in Southern California. Daniels is part-owner of the Lakers and controlling shareholder of Prime Ticket Network.