Dis-Gruntaled: is Ryan Beck's asset deal a shell game? customers' claims may go unpaid.

Investment News, October, 2002 by Kelly, Bruce

A last-minute deal this spring between a bank, its brokerage subsidiary and a failing broker-dealer is leaving a sour taste in the mouths of some investors.

In April, Ryan Beck & Co. TIC of Livingston, N.J., acquired $14 billion in client assets, along with some liabilities, from the former Gruntal & Co. LLC of New York, which had long been on the block, for a cool $6 million in cash, plus future expenses.

Ryan Beck and its parent company, BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., clearly benefited from the deal. Ryan Beck has grown to nearly 600 retail brokers, up from 100. And in a move that raised eyebrows, BankAtlantic turned the deal into an accounting profit of $23.8 million when it posted its results for the quarter that ended in...

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