$400 MILLION DEAL MAKERS

Malcolmn Pryor, Raymond McClendon and Allen Counts may be based in separate offices, but the partners are united in moving the country's biggest African-American-owned investment bank, Pryor, McClendon, Counts & Co. (PMC) at one pace: full speed ahead.

Using their expertise in government securities business as a springboard, PMC has expanded to a broad range of financial products. These include taxable and tax-exempt finance, securities trading and asset management. Wedgewood Capital Management, PMC's investment advising arm, has about $200 million under management.

The firm, No. 2 among the nation's black investment banks (see BE INVESTMENT BANKS, this issue), has 55 employees in 14 offices. It is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, the Securities Investor Protection Corp. and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.

In 1991, PMC gained a foothold in mortgagebacked securities, becoming one of the Resolution Trust Corp.'s (RTC) major underwriters. With $200 million, PMC became the first minority firm to lead an RTC deal. Through June, Securities Data Inc. reports that PMC offered $5 billion worth of mortgage-backed debt (with full credit to each manager) ranking 12th among the top debt managers.

PMC is accustomed to major deals: Last May, it became the first minority firm to serve as principal distributor for a mutual fund, the Atlanta Growth Fund, an open-ended fund comprising primarily the 50 most highly capitalized public companies in the Atlanta area. These include Coca-Cola, Bell South and Home Depot, And last July, it became lead manager of the largest black-led municipal finance deal, the nearly $400 million Airport Systems Revenue Bond Issue for Denver.

Rapid growth is no surprise at PMC considering the name partners' experience. McClendon is a Morehouse College grad with a Georgia State University MBA. Pryor and Counts graduated from Howard University and both have Wharton School MBAs. Counts also has a Howard J.D. Pryor, 45, worked as a Goldman Sachs salesman before he went out on his own in 1979, forming an investment partnership. In 1981, he established Pryor, Govan, Counts & Co. In 1989, a merger with R.J. McClendon Capital Corp. changed the name. McClendon, 40, managed an $800 million investment portfolio as Atlanta's chief investment officer and was vice president for Multi-Family Activities of the Federal National Mortgage Association. Counts, 49, headed Citibank's World Corp. Shipping Group in Hong Kong from 1973 to 1980. In 1981, he co-rounded the first minority-controlled broker/dealer in government securities.

With such experience, McClendon says PMC's challenge is "to strengthen the firm so that it is recognized as a top quality investment bank that just happens to be run by African-Americans." Pryor adds, "the financial market is the last piece of the civil rights struggle."

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