Trenwith Goes Global In Merger With BDO

Trenwith Securities Inc., a West Coast-based investment bank, and accounting firm BDO International have joined forces to shoot for a larger share of the middle-market m&a business. The uniquely structured deal establishes Trenwith as the investment banking arm of BDO, which becomes only the second accounting-based professional services organization to have a registered broker-dealer in-house. The other is PricewaterhouseCoopers, which handles investment baking services through PricewaterhouseCoopers Securities. Ron Ainsworth, who founded Trenwith in 1981 and has led the firm in transactions valued at $10 billion in the ensuing two decades, says that the deal allows Trenwith to expand internationally by providing contact with BDO’s 500 offices in 95 countries. “They have the depth in the international markets that was very appealing to be me,” he says. “And having access to resources and people allows me to grow the investment banking business.” Under the agreement, the two firms set up a new Trenwith, jointly owned by BDO Corporate Finance and Ainsworth. Five traditional bankers transferred from BDO to Trenwith giving it 18 professionals, and “we are seeking more,” Ainsworth states. Trenwith, which currently has offices in Newport Beach, Calif., and New York, plans to set up a shop in Chicago and is eyeing other sites in the U.S. and Europe. Trenwith, which will focus on deals in the $25 million to $500 million price range, expects an immediate payoff from BDO’s referral of transactions that it formerly passed up. “That’s the low-hanging fruit they just left alone,” Ainsworth says.