Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder

Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder
Company type	Private
Industry	Investment banking, fund management
Founded	1931 (merger in Germany)
Founder	Arnhold Brothers and S. Bleichröder
Fate	Majority stakes acquired by Blackstone Group LP and Corsair Capital LLC in December 2015
Headquarters	New York City, United States
Area served	Global
Key people	Hans Arnhold, Stephen M. Kellen, Henry H. Arnhold, Bruce Greenwald
Products	Investment banking, fund management, mutual funds (First Eagle Fund of America)
Owner	Blackstone Group LP and Corsair Capital LLC (majority since 2015)

Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder was an investment banking firm based in New York, initially established in Germany through the 1931 merger of Arnhold Brothers and S. Bleichröder. The company relocated its headquarters to the United States in 1937. It operated as a fund management business under the ownership of the Arnhold and Kellen families until December 2015, when majority stakes were acquired by Blackstone Group LP and Corsair Capital LLC, with legal guidance from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

History

The company traces its roots to the consolidation of two banking houses: S. Bleichröder, founded by Samuel Bleichröder in 1803 in Berlin, and Gebr. Arnhold (Arnhold Brothers), established in Dresden in 1864. In 1931, Arnhold Brothers took over S. Bleichroeder.

Due to persecution under the Nazi regime, the firm shifted its operations to New York City in 1937, functioning as S. Bleichroeder New York Inc. After Hans Arnhold emigrated from Paris to New York in 1939, the company adopted the name Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder.

The firm launched its inaugural offshore fund under the First Eagle brand in 1967.

In 1987, it introduced its first mutual fund registered in the United States, named the First Eagle Fund of America, managed jointly by Harold Levy and Michael Kellen.

In 2002, Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder's brokerage division was sold for $105 million to Natexis Banques Populaires, the investment banking subsidiary of Banque Populaire. Shareholders obtained a 2.6% ownership interest in Natexis, which was subsequently renamed Natexis Bleichroeder. Meanwhile, the asset management segment, Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisors, continued independently under John Arnhold’s leadership and was later rebranded as First Eagle Investment Management, overseeing roughly billion in assets by September 2010.

In 2007, TA Associates acquired a minority interest in First Eagle Investment Management from descendants of the founding family.

By December 2015, Blackstone and Corsair Capital had purchased majority ownership from TA Associates and the original family stakeholders.

Notable employees and alumni

Hans Arnhold reestablished Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, Inc. in New York in 1939 and appointed his son-in-law Stephen Max Kellen as CEO in 1940; Kellen was married to his daughter Anna-Maria Arnhold.
Stephen M. Kellen worked initially in Berlin before joining Lazard Brothers Ltd. in London (1936), then moved to New York to join Loeb, Rhoades & Co. (1937). He led Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder as President and CEO for almost five decades, facilitating significant transatlantic transactions.
Henry H. Arnhold held the position of chairman at Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder and its successor entities from 1960 until 2015.
Bruce Greenwald became Director of Research at the firm in 2009; after ten years he retired but continues as Senior Advisor.
Jim Rogers joined the company in 1970 but departed in 1973 to co-found the Quantum Fund alongside George Soros, reportedly due to restrictions on profit-sharing imposed by brokerage regulations.
George Soros was employed by the firm from 1963 until his departure in 1973.
Julius Leopold Schwabach, a partner from 1866, assumed leadership after Bleichröder's passing in 1893.
Carl Fürstenberg served at S. Bleichroeder between 1871 and 1883.

External links

Archives and records

Collection of Bleichröder Bank documents housed at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.