Cleveland, OH – Raintree Capital Partners, LLC (“Raintree”), a Cleveland-based middle market investment banking firm, has announced the formation of a joint venture that will expand its investment banking services on a national scale.

Raintree is a joint venture established by Merrymeeting, Inc. (“MMI”) and Cohen Capital Advisors, LLC (“Cohen Capital”). MMI is an investment and management firm that specializes in acquiring and developing franchisors. Cohen Capital is a regional investment banking firm and an affiliate of Cohen & Company, Ltd., a regional CPA and consulting firm. Cohen Capital provides investment banking services for privately-owned companies with enterprise values between $10 million and $100 million. These services typically include mergers & acquisitions, financing, and other capital markets transactions, such as private placements and valuations.

“This venture is based on the proven investment banking process model we’ve built over the past four years,” says Mike Harding, a Managing Director of the firm, “however its future is based on the experience of MMI to develop efficient and centralized business services on a large scale.”

The focus of the joint venture is to expand the investment banking services currently offered by Cohen Capital to a broader, national market. Raintree opened an independent office in Houston last month and plans on opening two more offices in Indianapolis and Minneapolis over the next several months. Current plans call for another seven offices within the next year.

John Davies, Managing Director of Raintree states that, “We have identified a need in the investment banking industry for middle market companies. With a collaborative effort from Cohen Capital, we will be able to bring a new breadth of services locally and regionally.”

Much of the expertise, research, operational and risk-management functions of Raintree will be provided by the corporate office, located in Cleveland. Regional offices will be staffed by deal teams maintaining relationships with the local business community. These offices are typically existing Sunbelt offices that have experienced significant growth in business brokerage transactions and have recognized the need for more sophisticated investment banking services as they anticipate the size of their deals increasing.

“Demographics indicate that thousands of companies will need to execute an orderly succession plan in the next 10 years,” says Randy Myeroff, CEO of Cohen & Company. “The need for investment banking services to facilitate this transition of ownership is expected to grow rapidly as the economy rebounds. There has been a significant amount of private equity capital raised to fund this transition. Smaller companies will require professional expertise to represent them in these markets as they partner with institutions or sell their companies to others.”

A key element in establishing the joint venture involves the regulatory requirements of investment banking. In order to comply with State, Federal, and SEC regulations, an investment bank is generally required to process securities transactions utilizing a FINRA registered broker-dealer. Investment banking professionals are typically required to maintain individual securities licenses in order to provide these services.

Cohen & Company (www.cohencpa.com) is a regional CPA firm that works with entrepreneurs and private enterprises to help them reach their goals. In addition to a full range of accounting and tax services, Cohen & Company specializes in a number of advisory services.

Cohen Capital Advisors, Ltd. was started in 2005 to provide sell-side and buy-side representation for mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, and assistance in raising capital to finance growth and acquisitions. The company will now operate as Raintree Capital Partners.

For more information on Raintree Capital Partners services, visit www.raintree-capital.com.

Raintree Capital Partners provides sell-side and buy-side representation for mergers and acquisitions; financial restructuring; and assistance in raising capital to finance growth and acquisitions. Securities offered through SFI Investments, LLC, Member FINRA Member SIPC, and an affiliate of Raintree Capital Partners, LLC.