Thomas Weisel to Fire 80 Employees

Securities firm Thomas Weisel Partners is firing 80 employees, mostly in investment banking, on expectations that the slump in business at the technology-focused securities firm will continue into next year, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

San Francisco-based Weisel plans to fire the employees, about 10% of its staff, this week to reduce costs as fees from advising on mergers and arranging initial public offerings dry up, a company spokesman said.

Revenue has fallen almost by half this year at Weisel as stocks slump and technology company layoffs and bankruptcies rise. The 2 1/2-year-old investment boutique, founded by former NationsBanc Montgomery Securities Chief Executive Thomas Weisel, provides underwriting, merger advice and trading for Internet and computer companies.

“The only prudent course for us now is for the firm to reduce head count into line with current and expected business volume in the next 12 months,” spokesman Mike Connolly said. “There’s a point where we have to be conservative.”

Weisel’s revenue was $74 million for the second quarter of this year, down from $132 million a year earlier, the closely held partnership said. Revenue for the third quarter is expected to remain about the same, Connolly said.

Weisel joins other technology-focused securities firms that have seen revenue drop and have fired employees. Robertson Stephens Inc., the securities unit of FleetBoston Financial Corp., fired 300 employees, or 19% of its work force, earlier this year.

W.R. Hambrecht & Co., a 2-year-old Internet investment bank, last month said it was firing 40 to 45 people, one-fifth of its work force, as it reduced its stock trading business.

None of Weisel’s 69 partners will be fired, Connolly said.

Weisel has lead-managed one stock offering this year, a $158-million secondary stock sale for Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc., according to Bloomberg data.