BioCentury
ARTICLE | Finance

On the block . . . again

April 22, 2002 7:00 AM UTC

Robertson Stephens must be feeling a bit like the red-headed stepchild. News that FleetBoston Financial will sell the boutique investment firm means that Robbie will get its third "parent" in less than five years.

In 1998, BankBoston acquired Robbie from BankAmerica for $800 million. BankAmerica had purchased the investment bank in October 1997 for $540 million, but subsequently shed the unit following BofA's merger with NationsBank. In 1999, Fleet announced the acquisition of BancBoston for $16 billion (see BioCentury, March 22, 1999). ...