J.C. Bradford & Co. was a Nashville-based investment banking and brokerage firm founded by James Cowdon Bradford Sr. in 1927. The firm was the first from Nashville to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.
The firm was acquired by PaineWebber in April 2000 for $620 million to gain access to its network of 900 brokers.[1] Just a month after the acquisition of the firm closed, PaineWebber announced the closure of the investment banking unit of J.C. Bradford & Co. in May 2000.[2] Immediately subsequent to this, PaineWebber was acquired by Swiss banking firm UBS AG.
Prior to its acquisition, the firm had 2,400 employees in 81 offices located in 14 states, focused primarily in the southern United States.[1]