Lebenthal sells major stake to South Street Securities

Lebenthal Holdings, the successor of the municipal bond firm founded in 1925, has sold a 49% stake in its Lebenthal & Co. unit as well as 100% of its ownership interests in Lebenthal Asset Management and Lebenthal Family Office to South Street Securities Holdings Inc. South Street, a broker-dealer founded in 2004, provides U.S. Treasury and agency repo financing to agency real estate investment trusts, asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and other capital market participants. ​ In a release South Street said that the acquisition will help the firm "expand its footprint in asset management." It said that Alexandra Lebenthal and her brother, Jim Lebenthal, will continue to "play a meaningful role" in the business. After the acquisition, Lebenthal & Co will continue to operate as a woman-owned firm. Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur by the third quarter. Recently, Lebenthal was reported to be seeking a suitor to help it deal with financial issues.