Press Release: December 11, 2002
WR Hambrecht + Co Announces Formation of Real Estate Securities Group; George B. Rogers and Christopher J. Hartung Join as Managing Directors
San Francisco, CA, December 11, 2002—WR Hambrecht + Co today announced that George B. Rogers and Christopher J. Hartung have joined the firm to form the Real Estate Securities Group focused on capital transactions and research coverage for REITs, real estate operating companies and homebuilders. This is a new business line for WR Hambrecht + Co fitting into the Specialty Finance niche as one of the four sectors of emerging growth companies in which the firm has investment banking and research expertise, the others being Electronic Technology, Healthcare/Life Sciences and Branded Consumer.
“We have been approached on numerous occasions by people in industries – the real estate industry in particular – where the cost of capital is a huge consideration and who are attracted to our efficient, transparent capital raising platform,” said Bill Hambrecht, Chairman and CEO of WR Hambrecht + Co. “We are excited to have George and Chris join us to develop the Real Estate Securities Group, extending our brand into another industry.”
“In the real estate industry, access to lower cost of capital provides an important competitive advantage,” said George B. Rogers, Managing Director of WR Hambrecht + Co. “WRH+Co’s OpenIPO and OpenFollow-On equity auction products can benefit both issuers and investors of real estate securities by allowing participation in a truly efficient process. We are excited to join an entrepreneurial firm like WR Hambrecht + Co and we think the real estate industry can benefit from the firm’s innovative initiatives.”
“Increasingly, Wall Street firms do not have a presence on the West Coast and are not focusing on small to medium-sized firms,” said Christopher J. Hartung, Managing Director of WR Hambrecht + Co. “Leveraging WRH+Co’s West Coast location and emerging company focus will allow me to provide a superior research product to investors. In a time of upheaval within the investment industry, I am proud to join a team led by someone with Bill Hambrecht’s reputation and integrity.”
Prior to joining WR Hambrecht + Co, George Rogers founded Black Mountain Capital, a real estate and technology investment banking consulting group actively involved in M&A, capital raising and consulting for public and private real estate, Internet and software companies. Prior to that, at Jefferies & Company, Inc. and Robertson Stephens & Company, George acted as agent and principal in various transactions, including IPOs, follow-on and high-yield debt offerings in real estate, energy, knowledge services and internet/business services groups. Throughout his career, George has been responsible for executing over $3 billion in equity and debt transactions for real estate entities.
Previous to WR Hambrecht + Co, Chris Hartung was Managing Director, Group Head of Real Estate Equity Research at Banc of America securities with primary responsibility for the office, retail and multifamily sectors as well as overall macro and California-specific real estate economics. Chris originally joined Montgomery Securities, Banc of America’s predecessor company, in 1996 as a Vice President. Prior to that, Chris held numerous research, strategic and planning positions at JP Morgan & Co. Most recently, Chris was Chief Strategy Officer at iBuilding Inc., an application service provider developing internet-based management software for the operations and management of commercial real estate buildings.
