ROSEVILLE, Minn., Oct. 3, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Ehlers Companies, Leaders in Public Finance, announced today that it is expanding its presence in the Colorado market by acquiring Public Finance Associates, LLC.
Ehlers Companies provides independent municipal financial advisory services to more than 800 hundred local, regional and state government units throughout the upper Midwest region with offices in Roseville, Minnesota, Waukesha, WI, and Lisle, Illinois. Owned by an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), Ehlers Companies provides municipal advisor services through Ehlers & Associates (Ehlers); municipal investment advisory services through Ehlers Investment Partners (EIP); and municipal paying agent services through Bond Trust Services Corporation (BTSC).
Public Finance Associates is an independent finance advisory firm based out of Centennial, CO, providing public finance and economic consulting services throughout Colorado since 2002. James S. Harrington, President of Public Finance Associates, has been involved in municipal bond advising and underwriting for over 30 years. Harrington states, "The timing was right to align with another strong public finance firm given the new Security and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Municipal Advisor Rule. Ehlers Companies shares the same core values that we regard as important and offers a wider scope of services for our clients."
Chairman of the Board for Ehlers, Mike Harrigan, reflects, "The acquisition of Public Finance Associates represents an important strategic opportunity to offer independent public finance options in Colorado." Harrigan continues, "Our founder, Robert Ehlers, Sr. and I were born and raised in the West, so in a way, we're going back to our roots. This partnership adds to our capacity and offers our services to even more communities in the Midwest and beyond."
The Colorado office will offer this wider scope of services to all municipal clients including school districts. The new SEC Municipal Advisor rule makes it clear that since municipal advisors have a fiduciary duty to their municipal debt issuer, a municipal advisor is the only party in a municipal debt issue that represent the interests of the municipality. Harrington, commenting on this new rule states that "For too long, municipal debt issuers relied solely on the debt purchaser for advice. It is clear now that issuers can only rely on a municipal advisor to represent their interests from planning to the closing of a municipal debt issue. The SEC makes it clear that a Municipal Advisor is an important participant in any debt issue." He expects many municipal debt issuers to now use a municipal advisor.
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Timothy Schram 800-552-1171
