(Alliance News) - City brokers Panmure Gordon and Liberum on Tuesday said they have agreed an all-share merger that will create the "UK's largest independent investment bank" with over 250 quoted corporate clients.

The combined firm, to be called Panmure Liberum, will be led by Shane Le Prevost, the founder of Liberum, as non-executive chair, and by Rich Ricci, the chief executive officer of Panmure Gordon, as CEO.

Financial support for the merger will come from Atlas Merchant Capital LLC, founded and led by former Barclays PLC chief executive Bob Diamond.

Atlas acquired Panmure Gordon for GBP15.5 million in 2017 and delisted the company from the London Stock Exchange. Liberum is a relative newcomer to the City, founded in 2007.

The two companies said their merger will be positive for the London equity market. "The creation of Panmure Liberum will ensure that together it has the scale to be at the forefront of key market initiatives to reinvigorate the appeal of UK listed equities and of listing companies and funds in the UK," they said.

Panmure and Liberum have "minimal overlap" among their corporate clients, they noted. Their research teams will cover more than 580 stocks in the UK and Europe, and their execution team will be a market maker in more than 750 stocks. The company will have offices in London, New York, Leeds, Cambridge and Guernsey.

"This merger will lift the level and quality of service to mid and small-cap businesses and investors in the UK and beyond," Diamond said. "These businesses are the lifeblood of the UK economy and require flexible and tailored solutions to enhance their productivity."

By Tom Waite, Alliance News editor

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