Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. has acquired Louisville, Kentucky-based Hilliard Lyons and Hilliard Lyons Trust Co. The transaction, terms of which were not disclosed, is expected to close in the second half of 2019.
Baird offers wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management. It has $211 billion in client assets, and reported 2017 revenue of $1.5 billion.
Hilliard Lyons and its trust company offer wealth management, trust and estate planning, and select investment banking, municipal finance and asset management. It has more than $50 billion in client assets, and revenue of more than $280 million as of Sept. 30.
HL was founded in 1854 and has almost 1,000 employees at about 70 offices in 11 states. Baird, founded in 1919, has more than 3,450 employees at 97 offices in 30 states.
In the integration of the companies, Baird plans to retain all 1,300 financial advisors from the companies. Hilliard Lyons chairman and chief executive officer Jim Allen will become a member of Baird’s executive committee, based in Louisville; president Tom Kessinger III will take on a private wealth management leadership position in Lexington, Kentucky; and executive vice president and director-private wealth Alan Newman will become a private wealth management leader in Evansville, Indiana. Baird did not disclose its plans for integrating other HL employees.
“As we approach Baird’s 100th year, we are immensely proud to welcome Hilliard Lyons to the Baird family,” said Steve Booth, president and chief executive officer of Baird. “Hilliard Lyons has an excellent reputation and many other similarities to Baird including a strong, client-centric culture and business model, a commitment to being a great place to work, and a long history of giving back to the community.”
“On every level, Baird is a great fit for our clients and for the Hilliard Lyons team,” said Jim Allen, chairman and CEO of Hilliard Lyons. “We are especially pleased to return to our roots and rejoin an employee-owned firm. Baird’s culture, values, and business model align seamlessly with ours, and its reputation as a best place to work is unsurpassed in the industry.”
