Significant Expansion Of Debt Advisory & Restructuring Group

Veteran Restructuring Bankers Eric Scroggins, Joe Stone and Lance Gurley to Further Enhance Oppenheimer’s Advisory Capabilities

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. ("Oppenheimer") –a leading investment bank, wealth manager, and a subsidiary of Oppenheimer Holdings (NYSE: OPY) – today announced a significant expansion of its Debt Advisory & Restructuring Group with the hiring of three dedicated restructuring specialists. The three professionals – Managing Directors and Co-Heads of Debt Advisory & Restructuring Eric Scroggins and Joe Stone, as well as Managing Director Lance Gurley – bring to Oppenheimer over 60 years of collective experience in guiding clients through restructurings and other special situations. They will significantly enhance the firm’s ability to provide tailored investment banking guidance to companies at every stage of the corporate life cycle.

Robert Lowenthal, President of Oppenheimer and Head of Investment Banking, said, “As our economy and capital markets continue to evolve, Oppenheimer’s Investment Banking platform has played a leading role in helping companies capture opportunities in both capital formation and strategic transactions. With this announcement, we are pleased to further expand our ability to provide our clients with trusted advice in the area of restructuring, as well, further broadening our ability to guide their ongoing development. The group of senior professionals we are welcoming today provides the ideal combination of insight, energy and talent to further enhance our service offerings for clients in need of advisory services related to the financial restructuring of their businesses.”

Oppenheimer’s Head of Debt Advisory & Restructuring, Bruce Buchanan, who has been instrumental in establishing the firm’s restructuring capabilities and growth expansion efforts, added, “I look forward to leveraging the expertise and capabilities of my new partners to provide comprehensive strategic advisory services to our clients, as we continue to expand our scale, geographic footprint and broader market position.”

Mr. Scroggins has over 25 years of experience in both principal investing and in advising companies, creditors, and other stakeholders and buyers of assets in financial distress and Chapter 11 situations across a wide range of complex foreign and domestic transactions.

Mr. Stone has over 20 years of experience advising corporate, creditor and private equity clients involved in complex capital structure challenges, and has executed a wide range of restructurings, M&A and capital transactions.

Mr. Gurley has advised on M&A, complex restructurings and private debt and equity securities placements, and has a wide range of experience in advising the boards and senior executives of both public and private companies on developing solutions for reorganizing capital structures and business operations.

Mr. Scroggins said, “On behalf of our team, we are thrilled to be joining a platform with the resources, reputation and comprehensive investment banking capabilities that Oppenheimer offers. Throughout this process, it has been clear to us that the leaders of Oppenheimer’s Investment Banking group are serious about building a market leader in the debt advisory and restructuring space.”

Oppenheimer’s ongoing, focused expansion of its senior investment banking leadership and expertise across key industries and sectors, coupled with continual investment in its leading equity research capabilities, have been among the primary drivers of the firm’s record-setting investment banking results over the past two years. Full-year investment banking revenue of $222.3 million for 2020 increased 76% over 2019, while the division’s revenue increased 129% through the first nine months of 2021 versus the same period in 2020, to $316.1 million.

Oppenheimer’s expansion of its Debt Advisory & Restructuring group further builds on this momentum, and follows the launch last month of the firm’s Global Fund Placement and Advisory Group, which will provide services to leading alternative investment firms to help them fulfil their fundraising ambitions and strategic plans.