InterOcean Investment Banking Team Forms New Firm

CHICAGO, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Investment Banking group of InterOcean Financial Group LLC recently formed InterOcean Advisors LLC, an independent investment banking firm providing M&A and capital raise advisory services. The new firm will be headed by Managing Directors Bill Doepke and Bob Wujtowicz and will continue to be narrowly focused on the manufacturing sector and related industrial services sectors. InterOcean Advisors will assume its predecessor investment banking engagements and client relationships.

"Our newly created independence will permit us to further strengthen relationships with our clients and better service new engagements," said Mr. Doepke. "Fortunately, we have active engagements in all of our core manufacturing sectors and have experienced recent successes with the sale of a hybrid drive train business and completion of a strategic advisory role for a large plastic products manufacturer.

"While the M&A market has been extremely challenging for the last year, we continue to see solid M&A activity in certain sectors, particularly those attractive to strategic buyers," Mr. Wujtowicz observed. "Some financial investors are still acquisitive but are having to accept lower return thresholds on their investments," he added, "as they must deploy more equity capital to finance transactions."

Mr. Wujtowicz formerly led the metals and building products teams at both Giuliani Capital Advisors and Ernst & Young Corporate Finance. He is active in a variety of industry activities and serves on the Editorial Board of Forward Magazine, the bi-monthly publication of the Metal Service Center Institute.

Mr. Doepke was a member of the Automotive Team in Ernst & Young's Global Industrial Products Group and was tasked with building an automotive investment banking practice at Price Waterhouse LLP. He spent the largest portion of his career at Lehman Brothers.

Collectively, the two have spent over 50 years serving the strategic advisory needs of middle market clients and the niche transaction advisory requirements of large private and public companies.

InterOcean Advisors LLC is a Chicago-based investment banking firm serving the manufacturing sector. The firm offers a full scope of investment banking services. Visit www.ioadvisors.com for more information or contact Bob Wujtowicz at rwujtowicz@ioadvisors.com.

SOURCE InterOcean Financial Group LLC