.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Des Moines-based Cybus Capital Markets LLC wasn’t seeking a suitor late last year when First National of Nebraska Inc. came knocking on its door.

But then, drawing the attention of the fourth-largest agricultural lender in the country created quite an opportunity, particularly as First National was expanding its recently formed investment banking arm.

Earlier this month, Omaha-based First National Investment Banking announced its acquisition of Cybus, a privately owned investment banking firm that in the past two decades has closed more than $3 billion in deals.

Cybus retained its name and its seven employees, who operate from offices in Des Moines and Sacramento, Calif., with an affiliate in St. Augustine, Fla.

“The thing that really struck a chord with us at Cybus was the overlap of the markets we serve,” said James Eiler, managing partner of Cybus Capital.

“We’re a niche investment banking group focused on food and agribusiness and a growing practice in renewable energy,” he added.” That’s really an overlay in what First National’s expertise has been.”

First National, which is privately owned, did not disclose the terms of the acquisition.

First National Investment Banking is a wholly owned subsidiary of First National of Nebraska Inc., which is among the 50 largest U.S. bank holding companies and owner of First National Bank in Omaha.

The holding company manages nearly $16 billion in assets and employs more than 7,000 people.

First National Investment Banking’s goal is to build the “premier food, agribusiness and renewable-energy investment banking practice in North America,” said Clark Lauritzen, FNIB’s senior vice president and general manager. “Our business philosophies, which combine Wall Street expertise with Midwestern values, mesh very well.”

Lauritzen, whose family owns First National Bank, returned to Omaha to launch the company’s investment banking operation after working for Goldman Sachs’ Chicago and New York offices. He hopes to build FNIB’s revenues to $10 million this year and looks for them to double in each of the next two years.

Though FNIB was just incorporated earlier this year, its three component divisions – First National Capital Markets, First National Mergers & Acquisitions and First Capital Partners LLC – have been under development for the past three years.

Cybus plans to hire two additional investment bankers in Des Moines and Sacramento this year, and to open new offices in Kansas City, Mo., and Denver.

Renewable energy has been one of the mainstays of FNIB, which has led or participated in financing 42 of the 110 ethanol plants that have been constructed in the United States.

“They’re such a large player in ethanol, it not only brings us the contacts and the reputation they have, but it also brings you a very rich database,” Eiler said. “So we can give greater guidance and perhaps some more effective advisory services by leveraging some of the data they naturally aggregate through their current operations.”

Cybus, which represents more than 200 clients, was originally formed as an agricultural investment firm in Burlington.

The firm moved to Des Moines in the mid-1980s, when Mutual of New York bought it. In 1995 the partners completed a buyout and incorporated as Cybus Capital Markets.

“The size of the companies we work with is truly all over the board,” said Ron Flaherty, a Cybus partner who works from the firm’s Sacramento office. “We have clients that were $2 billion, $3 billion in size. We also have clients who when we started with them were only $7 million or $8 million, knowing that we could provide value and grow with them.”

The acquisition will provide Cybus access to new sources of capital, among them a mezzanine fund and an in-house equity fund.

Private equity and mezzanine capital, which together are known as junior capital, enable businesses to close gaps not financed by senior bank debt.

“I think what (the acquisition) adds in Des Moines is a more complete capital markets product, such as credit syndication,” Eiler said. “We’re still client-retained, so we’re going to go to the capital markets and get the best capital structure transaction for our clients, regardless of who provides that.

“So we will show First National certain transactions, but they’re going to be bidding against other capital sources, just as we’ve always done, to optimize the best total package for our customers,” he said.

In the near term, Eiler said he expects Cybus will continue to work primarily with private companies.

“But I think (First National’s) long-term plans are to utilize some retail placements for public offerings that we currently don’t have access to,” he said. “First National currently doesn’t have that capability, but I think they’re reviewing that space.”