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Baird and Hilliard Lyons to Merge

Wealth management giant Baird has agreed to acquire rival brokerage firm Hilliard Lyons and its affiliate Hilliard Lyons Trust Company, both based in Louisville, Kentucky.

Wealth management giant Baird has agreed to acquire rival brokerage firm Hilliard Lyons and its affiliate Hilliard Lyons Trust Company, both based in Louisville, Kentucky. The merger is expected to close during the second half of 2019.

Baird, an international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm established in 1919, has more than 3,450 associates, including more than 890 financial advisors working from 97 locations in 30 states. The company had more than $211 billion in client assets as of the second quarter of 2018.

Established in 1854, Hilliard Lyons has nearly 1,000 employees, including more than 380 financial advisors, operating from more than 70 offices in 11 states.

Together with Hilliard Lyons Trust, the firm offers wealth management, trust and estate planning services, as well as select investment banking, municipal finance and asset management services. Hilliard Lyons oversees more than $50 billion in client assets and generated $280 million in revenue as of September 30, 2018.

“As we approach Baird’s 100th year, we are immensely proud to welcome Hilliard Lyons to the Baird family,” said Steve Booth, president and CEO 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.”

Hilliard Lyons top leadership – chairman and CEO Jim Allen, president Tom Kessinger III, and Alan Newman, executive vice president and director of private wealth – will continue in their roles.

After the merger closes, Allen will serve as a vice chairman of Baird and a member of its executive committee out of Louisville, Kentucky; Kessinger will serve in a private wealth management leadership role in Lexington, Kentucky while continuing to serve his wealth management clients; and Newman will also serve in a private wealth management leadership role in Evansville, Indiana.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Baird is an employee-owned, international firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Its principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird’s investment banking and private equity operations.

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