Hawkpoint payouts to leave Bridgewell standing
Staff at the specialist UK investment bank could be about to make a packet. Employees at rival UK firm Bridgewell have reason to feel rather envious.
Collins Stewart, the stockbroker and interdealer, is rumoured to be considering a bid for Hawkpoint in a deal the Financial Times says could be worth between 100m and 150m.
According to one veteran City headhunter, Hawkpoint employees are likely to do distinctly well for themselves out of it. "The staff own about 80%-90% of the equity," he tells us. "And there are only around 100 of them."
One of the biggest windfalls is likely to land in the lap of David Reid Scott, Hawkpoint's chairman and a former banker at Credit Suisse.
David Grime, an analyst with investment banking group Altium Capital, tells us Scott and colleagues been trying to cash in on Hawkpoint for some time: "They've talked to a number of people about this transaction," he says.
Hawkpoint bankers' good fortune stands in contrast to problems at Bridgewell, another UK stockbroker and investment bank, which floated in June. Since the flotation, shares in the company have dropped from 1.40 to 1.17 a piece.
Grime says Bridgewell's employees own around 45% of equity in the company. However, unlike their rivals at Hawkpoint they're unable to cash in on it: "Most of it is in B shares, which are not dissimilar to options and are currently underwater."
