Furman Selz
Furman Selz LLC (A): A Tale of Two Acquisitions
This is the tale of a firm that went on from being a private company to being acquired, then becoming a private company again, and then re-acquired, all with varying levels of success. The protagonist here is the human capital; people of the company who, by virtue of mergers & acquisitions, fall prey to sometimes poles-apart work cultures and values.
Furman Selz Mager Dietz & Birney started as a highly innovative securities research boutique firm, with very creative employees and select clientele. The firm had a unique approach to everything – from hiring employees, selecting clients to providing services. As the firm grew in size and in revenues, its founders realized the need for professional management. This brought about the very first change – in form of Edmund Hajim. With a highly structured and consistent approach, Hajim set out to re-form the entire system and expand the company with the help of Steve Blecher, COO. The new P&Ls (Profit & Loss system) and Compensation system were ingredients of this change management process.
During the acquisition process, Furman Selz witnessed drastic culture changes from the original Clan culture to a Bureaucracy one.
Furman Selz was acquired by Xerox Financial Services Inc. in 1987. On one hand, the people of Furman Selz were put-off by the bureaucratic style and on the other hand, the firm enjoyed being under the umbrella of a big brand. Following the ‘Black Monday’ of 1987, the financial services sector was badly hit and even though the performance of Furman Selz was above average, Xerox decided to sell its financial services unit and once again, Furman Selz became a private company owned by the firm’s management and a group of employees. Edmund Hajim took over the reins and quickly distributed company stocks to key employees in order to retain them. The firm then focused on aggressive hiring of new talent and expansion of its business. Furman
This is the tale of a firm that went on from being a private company to being acquired, then becoming a private company again, and then re-acquired, all with varying levels of success. The protagonist here is the human capital; people of the company who, by virtue of mergers & acquisitions, fall prey to sometimes poles-apart work cultures and values.
Furman Selz Mager Dietz & Birney started as a highly innovative securities research boutique firm, with very creative employees and select clientele. The firm had a unique approach to everything – from hiring employees, selecting clients to providing services. As the firm grew in size and in revenues, its founders realized the need for professional management. This brought about the very first change – in form of Edmund Hajim. With a highly structured and consistent approach, Hajim set out to re-form the entire system and expand the company with the help of Steve Blecher, COO. The new P&Ls (Profit & Loss system) and Compensation system were ingredients of this change management process.
During the acquisition process, Furman Selz witnessed drastic culture changes from the original Clan culture to a Bureaucracy one.
Furman Selz was acquired by Xerox Financial Services Inc. in 1987. On one hand, the people of Furman Selz were put-off by the bureaucratic style and on the other hand, the firm enjoyed being under the umbrella of a big brand. Following the ‘Black Monday’ of 1987, the financial services sector was badly hit and even though the performance of Furman Selz was above average, Xerox decided to sell its financial services unit and once again, Furman Selz became a private company owned by the firm’s management and a group of employees. Edmund Hajim took over the reins and quickly distributed company stocks to key employees in order to retain them. The firm then focused on aggressive hiring of new talent and expansion of its business. Furman