Washington, D.C. (July 13, 2009)FOCUS LLC, a national middle market investment banking firm providing merger, acquisition, divestiture and corporate finance services, is pleased to announce that Rich Pierce has joined FOCUS’ Washington, DC office as a managing director.

According to Doug Rodgers, CEO and managing partner of FOCUS, “Rich has more than 10 years of investment banking experience in an area that will be of great value to our clients. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge in the telecommunications industry that includes assignments for providers of network related hardware and software products, wireless and wireline telecommunications service providers and network engineering and construction companies.”

Prior to joining FOCUS, Mr. Pierce was a director in the Communications and Media Group of Stifel Nicolaus, a nationally recognized middle market investment bank. While at Stifel Nicolaus he was involved in mergers and acquisitions and financing assignments with an aggregate dollar value in excess of $5 billion and led the firm’s efforts in the networking technology space. Mr. Pierce was also a member of the Telecommunications and Media Group at Legg Mason.

Mr. Pierce has been a speaker for a variety of industry associations including the Rural Cellular Association (RCA), the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA) and the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council, and he has been recognized as a testifying expert in the wireless industry. Before becoming an investment banker, Mr. Pierce had a successful seven year career as an officer in the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Corps. In addition to working in a number of tactical level assignments in the U.S. and Europe, he is a graduate of the Army’s Airborne and RANGER training programs.
Mr. Pierce graduated from Brown University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and received his M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where he graduated with distinction.

About FOCUS LLC

FOCUS LLC provides a range of middle market investment banking services with an emphasis on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and corporate finance. FOCUS is headquartered in Washington, D.C. with regional offices in Atlanta and Chicago. FOCUS specializes in business units with transactions or revenues in the $5-300 million range, serving entrepreneurs, corporate owners and various types of investors across a broad range of industries, throughout the U.S. and worldwide. FOCUS bankers are seasoned operating and financial executives with extensive transaction experience. Securities transactions conducted by Wm. H. Murphy & Co., Inc. registered Broker Dealer member FINRA/SIPC. For more information on FOCUS, visit www.focusbankers.com.

Kahla Cooper is the Director of Marketing at FOCUS. In this role, Ms. Cooper designs and implements the overall marketing strategy. Ms. Cooper works with each industry team leader to define programs in order to promote and brand FOCUS’ suite of capabilities.