Simmons & Company International - History


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		Simmons & Company International (SCI) was conceived in early 1974 by Matthew R. Simmons and opened its doors for business in May 1974. Focused from the start on the oil service industry, the firm enjoyed the sometimes frantic growth of that industry through 1981. During that period, the firm’s clients were primarily small- to medium-sized companies whose owners had decided it was time to sell. Thus, the preponderance of Simmons & Company's investment banking business during that period was merger and acquisition work. By the end of 1981 the firm had grown from three principals and one secretary to a 13-person company. Over the prolonged industry downturn from 1982 to 1990, while other financial service firms abandoned the sector, Simmons & Company turned to helping the industry survive. The firm’s role as advisor became focused on bankruptcy workouts, debt restructurings and the “cashless” combinations that were the final harsh step to ensure survival as competitors merged to strip out one last layer of cost. In 1989 and 1990 these measures began to pay off as the industry stabilized and started to generate positive and then growing cash flows. Toward the end of this period, the firm became convinced that the fundamentals of the oil supply/demand had tightened, and that the lean-and-mean condition of the oil service industry would provide enormous leverage to even the slightest pick-up in activity. The stock market began to anticipate this in 1989 when the SCI Oil Service Index spiked. At the same time, the partners had been studying the possibility of expanding into institutional sales, research and trading, since it was felt that the expected industry growth would open up the capital markets to it for the first time in more than 10 years. Entry into that sector was announced officially in January 1993, with the Index at approximately 450. Its 1997 peak was 1950. Our research efforts now encompass upstream oil services, midstream and downstream, exploration,production, alternative energy, coal, and the tanker industry. In 1995 the firm’s original specialization was redefined from “service and equipment for the oil and gas industry” to “total energy services.” An investment banking effort was added that focused on companies with gas plants, pipelines and other gathering systems as well as refiners and marketers, the “downstream” sector. In 1998 the firm opened its first office outside Houston, in Aberdeen, Scotland. In 2000 the firm completed its first investment banking assignment in the exploration and production sectors which has now become a major part of the firm's business. Today, Simmons & Company is one of the largest investment banking practices serving the energy industry—and enjoys the leading market share in its specialized merger and acquisition and public offering practices. The partners and professionals look forward to working with new and existing clients in the energy marketplace. Back to top