Bear Stearns opens Frankfurt office to get closer to clients UPDATE

(adds comments about Bear Stearns' Frankfurt strategy)

LONDON (Thomson IM) - US investment bank Bear Stearns has opened a new office in Frankfurt am Main as part of its European growth plans and in a bid to get closer to German clients.

The office, which was was opened in mid July in the Japan Tower, is initially staffed with equity, fixed income and investment banking teams, focusing on marketing and origination.

The investment bank said it already has a core sales force working in Frankfurt, some of whom are focused on equity derivatives products, after the launch of Bear Stearns' 'Best Markets' certificates platform for retail investors in the country.

Florian Lahnstein, co-head of Investment Banking for Bear Stearns in Europe said the move comes in recognition that the bank needs to have a permanent presence in Germany in order to get closer to clients.

Lahnstein told Thomson Financial News that Bear Stearns has had so far derived 'much less' in terms of international revenues in comparison with rivals such as Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers or UBS.

'We have to expand abroad, if you look at Europe there are four key markets: the UK, Germany, France and Italy,' he said. The American bank has been so far present in all of these markets, recently opening an office in France.

The opening of the Frankfurt office has now closed the gap, he said, adding however that further expansion in Europe is not likely to occur in the near future.

He added that because of the variety of activities which are conducted from Frankfurt, Bear Stearns has not named an official head of the office.

From its new Frankfurt office, the bank is poised to replicate its US strategy leveraging on the expertise acquired in sectors such as technology, media and telecommunications (TMT), chemicals, health care and real estate.

'These are sectors we are looking at,' he said. The bank is targeting cross border M&A activities in such areas, involving German companies, the executive said. By Cecilia Valente: [phone]; [e-mail] cv/bsd/cv/jfr COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.