Edgecrest Capital is led by David Beatty, the co-founder of Westwind Partners and Yamana (Image: Edgecrest Capital Corp.)

According to reports this afternoon the rumor that Edgecrest Capital was in talks to acquire Stonecap Securities appear to be true as the two announced the acquisition after the market closed today.  The price wasn't disclosed, but the move by Edgecrest allows them to enter the US market via Stonecap's FINRA registration without having to go through the lengthy regulatory process.

“When markets are absolutely terrible and in the dumps is when you can attract the people in the brokerage business,” David Beatty, 56, CEO of Edgecrest, said in a phone interview from Toronto to Bloomberg. “You can only kick a dog so far down into the hole, and then you make a contrarian move. That’s why we did this.”

Beatty co-founded Yamana Resources as well as Westwind Partners.

The Toronto-based firm that was created last year is adding 10 employees from Stonecap, including two investment bankers, three salespeople and four research analysts. They have not disclosed who the individuals are.  They are in discussions to bring a number of investment banking teams over and expect to grow to over 50 employees within 2 years.

Stonecap recently shutdown its Calgary office as a causality of the lengthy bear cycle in the resource sector.   In April of last year, Fraser McKenzie announced it was closing its doors as a result of the downturn in the resource sector.

Earlier this week,  Edgecrest announced it was underwriting a $75 million convertible debenture and warrants deal for North American Palladium (PDL:TSX).

Read: Edgecrest Capital Buys Stonecap Securities in Canada (Bloomberg)