BKD finance subsidiary changes name

BKD Corporate Finance President Steven Blumreich said the name change is part of an effort to better portray what the company does for its clients.

“All of our services center around helping with mergers and acquisitions and other types of financing activities that corporations use for initial public offerings,” he said. “We felt the new name more accurately reflects the types of services we provide.”

BKD Corporate Finance was founded in 1994 with the goal of helping companies and stockholders create corporate value. The group assists in mergers, acquisitions, company sales, recapitalizations, management buyouts, employee stock ownership plans, financing and initial public offering advisory services.

Though its name has changed, Blumreich said the company has made no operational changes.

He said his organization provides an important service to companies trying to make a sale.

“Usually, closely held companies don’t reflect all of the positive qualities that they have, including some of their financial performance,” he said.

“What we’re able to do is provide an approach that enables the companies to put their best foot forward. Then we’re able to identify the best buyers for those companies and conduct what we call a competitive negotiating process for the companies that we represent for sale. That has enabled a great deal of our clients to achieve greater values,” Blumreich added.

BKD Corporate Finance has helped companies buy, sell and divest in a wide range of industries, from communications and defense to food processing and distribution, health care, manufacturing, retail, software, technology, transportation and wholesale distribution.

BKD Corporate Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of BKD and is based in Springfield. BKD has 27 offices in 11 states, including Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma. According to the Public Accounting Report’s Top 100 ranking for 2004, an independent accounting publication, BKD is the ninth largest CPA and advisory firm in the nation, with revenues exceeding $200 million.