Frank Quattrone, the former Credit Suisse banker who last year was cleared of federal obstruction-of-justice charges after a four year battle, is setting up an 'advisory boutique' focused on technology companies.
San Francisco-headquartered Qatalyst Group will offer mergers, acquisition and corporate finance advice to technology firms through its investment banking business. The firm will also invest in new businesses alongside venture capital and private equity firms.
Quattrone is joined by members of his team at Credit Suisse, including Jonathan Turner, former global head of the bank's Internet group, Adrian Dollard, formerly general counsel of Credit Suisse's technology group. Neil Chalasani, most recently an investment banker at Evercore's technology, media and telecom group, is also joining the company.
While it will not engage in public securities research, sales, trading or brokerage, Qatalyst may participate as advisor or underwriter in clients' public offerings.
Qatalyst says advisory boutiques have gained increasing prominence on merger and acquisition transactions over the past few years as CEOs and boards have valued objective, senior level advice from independent firms. However, the firm claims there has not been a high-end boutique dedicated to the global technology industry.
Quattrone, who worked at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank before joining Credit Suisse, has worked on IPOs for Amazon and Cisco Systems, among others.
Commenting on his new venture, Quattrone says: "We will serve our clients as a catalyst for positive change by helping them navigate the forces affecting their industries, analyse the implications for them and their competitors, and develop and execute strategies to maximize long-term shareholder value. We believe the experience, perspective and judgement at the core of our advice will be of value to our clients, especially during challenging environments such as these."
Qatalyst has submitted an application for registration as a broker-dealer with the SEC and has applied for membership in Finra. The firm says it will operate as a division of investment bank JMP Securities while the applications are pending to enable it to begin work immediately.