Heard on the Beat / TECHNOLOGY : Merchant Bank's Interest Is Focused on Digital Coast

Heard on the Beat / TECHNOLOGY : Merchant Bank’s Interest Is Focused on Digital Coast

By KAREN KAPLAN

Sept. 6, 1999 12 AM PT

The Digital Coast is getting its own merchant bank. Digital Coast Partners, a Santa Monica bank that will be launched today, will assist Southern California technology companies with venture planning, strategic advice, private placement funding and mergers and acquisitions, said Jamie Montgomery, managing partner of the new firm.

In addition, Digital Coast Partners intends to raise $150 million to invest in high-tech start-ups on the West Coast that are close to going public. The bank also plans to launch an incubator, called E-Ventures, to help build electronic-commerce firms, Montgomery said.

Digital Coast Partners is the result of a merger between investment bank CEA Montgomery and consulting firm Montgomery & Associates. David Michaels and Rick Michaels will join Montgomery as partners in the new venture, which has 25 employees.

Technology and the Internet Business

Karen Kaplan

Karen Kaplan covers science and medical research for the Los Angeles Times. She has been a member of the science team since 2005, including 13 years as an editor. Her first decade at The Times was spent covering technology in the Business section as both a reporter and editor. She grew up in San Diego and is a graduate of MIT and Columbia University.

Heard on the Beat / TECHNOLOGY : Merchant Bank’s Interest Is Focused on Digital Coast

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