NAACP President & CEO Bruce S. Gordon applauds the announcement by AT&T that two African American-owned firms recently participated in the closure of a major financing deal for the telecommunications company.
African American-owned financial services companies Utendahl Capital Group and The Williams Capital Group, along with Bank of America, served as lead managers for a transaction that added $500 million to an existing AT&T bond. AT&T issued the bond, initially sized at $750 million, in 2004.
"This is the kind of leadership that we are in search of from corporate America," said Gordon. "AT&T is demonstrating the kind of commitment it takes to see minority businesses thrive while underscoring the point that black businesses do have the capability to land and endorse significant moves in the business world. Other major corporations should take notice of this act and we expect them to follow suit."
Utendahl Capital Group and The Williams Capital Group have provided a variety of financial services to AT&T for several years. In addition to reflecting AT&T's commitment to supporting minority-owned businesses, AT&T's choice of the Utendahl and Williams firms to lead the current bond issue demonstrates the value both companies bring to AT&T.
"Historically, the AT&T organization has been one of the leaders at the forefront of empowering minority financial service companies by having them lead transactions like this in the marketplace," said John Utendahl, Chairman & CEO of Utendahl Capital Group. "AT&T recognizes that institutions like ours bring much needed incremental value with institutional client diversification. By allowing us to display our proficiency in these types of securities transactions, AT&T is helping to affirm that these types of deals are not only viable but essential to corporate America's financial engineering. Clearly, this is something that everybody should do often."
"Williams Capital has had a longstanding relationship with AT&T and appreciates this significant opportunity to expand the scope of services that we provide to the company," said Chris Williams, Chairman & CEO of The Williams Capital Group. "Our ability to receive a mandate of this magnitude from AT&T is possible only because of the company's interest in working to develop strategies that reach a broad range of investors. We believe the quality of transaction execution and favorable aftermarket trading demonstrates the competitive quality of service that non-traditional firms can provide to even the largest corporations."
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