Blyth, Eastman Dillon & Co. - History - Consolidation and Acquisition

Consolidation and Acquisition

In 1970, Blyth was sold for $55 million to Insurance Corporation of North America, in what was at the time an unusual acquisition by a company outside of the investment banking industry.

Two years later, Blyth & Co. merged with Eastman Dillon Union Securities & Co. in 1972, which itself was the product of the 1956 merger of Union Securities and Eastman Dillon & Co. Eastman Dillon had been a full-time investment banking firm, founded in Pennsylvania in 1912 by Herbert Dillon and Thomas Eastman. Union Securities had formerly been the investment banking operations of J. & W. Seligman & Co., and was established in 1939, in the aftermath of the Glass–Steagall Act's separation of banking and underwriting activities. Eastman Dillon Union Securities & Co. established a successful track record during the 1940s and 1950s in as a merchant banking firm, focusing on acquiring and restructuring companies.

Seven years later, in 1979, Blyth, Eastman, Dillon & Co. merged with Paine Webber to form Blyth Eastman, Paine Webber. The merger would prove difficult for the combined company which struggled to integrate Blyth Eastman's investment banking operations with Paine Webber's retail business. The merger never fully achieved the intended goal of turning Paine Webber into a major investment banking house. In 1984, a reorganization of the company combined the three subsidiaries, Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis; Blyth Eastman Paine Webber; and PaineWebber Mitchell Hutchins, under one name, PaineWebber Incorporated, resulting in the disappearance of the Blyth Eastman brand. Paine Webber was ultimately acquired by UBS AG in 2000.