Porter White & Company
Porter White & Company (originally White & Company) is an investment bank and advisory firm operating from offices at 15 Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard North in Birmingham.
The firm was founded by Jim White on January 28, 1975 with a specialty in municipal and middle market corporate finance. In 1977 the firm was hired as a financial adviser to the City of Birmingham, and maintained that relationship for the next 22 years. Five-term Mayor Richard Arrington, who took office in 1979, credited the company with a number of successes during his administration as the city transitioned from an economy based on steel manufacture to a more diverse foundation including banking and medical research.
Charles "Kip" Porter joined the firm as a middle-market corporate finance specialist in 1984 and it was reorganized on May 31 as Porter White & Yardley. The company added municipal bond underwriting and trading, small cap stock trading and retail brokerage to its services.
The company sold its trading desks and brokerage unit to Morgan Keegan in 1993 and took its present name as Thomas Yardley joined the Memphis-based company. On March 31, 1995 the firm launched a registered investment adviser unit. Goodloe White joined the firm in 2002 as a specialist in corporate finance and investment management. He was later named president and CEO of the company.
In 2008 the company labored for five months on behalf of Jefferson County to negotiate with bondholders to resolve the county's $3.2 billion sewer debt crisis. They created a plan which combined regular sewer rate increases with the diversion of $37 million per year from education tax revenues and the general fund in order to prevent bankruptcy. The Jefferson County Commission rejected the proposal and terminated the company's contract.
Between 2005 and 2013 Porter White & Company's assets under management grew from $50 million to more than $250 million.
References
- Hubbard, Russell (July 4, 2008) "Jeffco sewer crisis adviser Porter White & Co. released after plans not embraced." The Birmingham News
External links
- Porter White & Company website