| Type | Defunct |
|---|---|
| Industry | Investment banking, Technology |
| Fate | Acquired by Charles Schwab |
| Founded | 1977 |
| Founder(s) | Gideon Gartner |
| Headquarters | Old Greenwich, Connecticut, USA |
Soundview Technology Group (formerly NASDAQ:SNDV) was an American technology-focused securities and investment banking firm known primarily for its equity research on technology and other growth oriented companies. The company was acquired by Charles Schwab in 2003.
Soundview was unique in that it combined accepted Wall Street research and distribution methods, with the intimate (albeit "arms length") relationship with Gartner analysts, and arguably became the leading technology research boutique on Wall Street.
SoundView was based in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.
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In 1977, Gideon Gartner initiated a financial service for Gartner Group via a partnership with Dillon, Read & Co., which distributed its reports and personal services to Dillon, Read & Co. investment client organizations. Gartner Group severed the Dillon Read relationship and became an independent broker-dealer in 1984, Gartner Securities Corp.
Gartner Securities was spun off to its shareholders just before its first public offering in 1986, providing analysis, investment advice and investment banking services, to institutional investors. The firm changed its name in 1988 to Soundview Technology, when Gartner was acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi.
At the peak of the dot-com bubble in early 2000, SoundView merged with Wit Capital (formerly Nasdaq:WITC) to form Wit SoundView in a $320 million all-stock transaction.[1] Wit Capital had been founded just a few years earlier, in 1996, by Andrew Klein. Wit positioned itself as an online investment banking firm focused exclusively on the Internet and technology sectors. Wit had pioneered several bubble-era innovations in investment banking including a "first-come, first-serve" approach to public offerings.[2] Wit had been backed by Goldman Sachs, which sold its stake in 2001.[3]
On November 19, 2003, Charles Schwab announced the acquisition of SoundView for $15.50 per share, or approximately $345 million. The acquisition was intended to integrate SoundView's equity research content with Charles Schwab's trading execution capabilities. SoundView received a 57% premium to its market price before the announcement.[4][5]