Close Bros buys stake in Freyburg

CLOSE BROTHERS, the UK investment banking group, yesterday said its corporate finance arm had acquired a majority interest in German independent corporate finance house Freyberg Hambros.

Close Bros said the move would place it in a strong position to take advantage of the consolidation among German Mittelstand, or medium-sized companies. The group did not disclose the price paid for business, which has been renamed Freyberg Close Brothers