FleetBoston Eats $800Million - Will Shut Robertson Stephens(Self Proclaimed Genius' Of The Internet, ed.) Bu Bye!

Publishers Note #1 - For 5 years these jerks ruined lives...they invested in losers, and acted like they knew but they did not!

The Financial story by Rebecca Knight stated that FleetBoston Financial said on Friday that it will wind down the investment banking operations of Robertson Stephens after failing to find a willing taker for the troubled investment bank.

The move ends months of speculation about the fate of the money-losing group. In April, Fleet said it would sell Robertson Stephens. And last month, the Boston-based bank was said to be finalising a deal to hand over a controlling stake to a group of senior managers for no payment.

"In recent weeks, Fleet and the Robertson Stephens management group were unable to structure an agreement for an employee buyout of the firm. As a result, we have decided a wind down is in the best interests of our shareholders," said Eugene McQuade, vice chairman and chief financial officer.

Analysts said Fleet's decision to shut down Robbertson Stephens reflects the acute imbalance between supply and demand in the West Coast investment banking industry.

"It's definitely an indication of a tough market environment," said Catherine Murray, analyst at JP Morgan. "They are trying to channel scarce resources into a business that will give the best return and it's not the capital markets business at Robertson Stephens."

Fleet's predecessor, BankBoston, paid $800m to buy Robertson Stephens in 1998 from its previous owner, BankAmerica. At the time San Francisco-based Robbie Stephens, as the bank is known locally, was riding the tech boom and was responsible for taking some of the best-known dot-coms public.

But the bank has suffered heavy losses over the past two years, and saw a dramatic drop in sales and trading activity as a result of the high-tech slump. The bank, which had revenues of $1.5bn last year, was expected to post a $60m loss for 2002.

Publishers Note: It is companies like RS who have set the growth of The Internet back at least 5 years. These supposedly smart guys backed horses that never raced and had never seen a track but had a good looking deliverable. They had the pompasity to think that their shit didn't smell.

But Bye