Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. has long been one of Wall Street's most distinguished old-line investment banking firms. Clarence Dillon had joined the firm of William A. Read & Co. as a bond salesman in 1913 and became head of its New York office in 1920. The firm became known as Dillon, Read & Co. the following year. In addition to New York and Chicago, the firm had small offices in Boston, Philadelphia and Paris. Like Morgan Stanley and Kuhn Loeb, the firm concent4ated on managerships of underwritten offerings rather than participations. During the 1950s, it ranked first in the dollar volume of agency private placements. The new firm of Warburg Dillon Read results from the joining together of two distinguished investment banking houses: Dillon Read and SBC Warburg. The latter was the result of the merger of Swiss Bank Corporation and S. G. Warburg. Known for its strong investment banking relationships and capital market activities, S. G. Warburg was founded in London in 1946. Warburg was acquired by Swiss Bank Corporation in 1994 along with the well-regarded investment management firm, Brinson Partners Inc. In 1997 Swiss Bank Corp. and Union Bank of Switzerland merged to become one of the leading banks in the world. Capital markets activities are now housed in one firm, Warburg Dillon Read. Its strengths are: relationship investment banking, equity research and trading, asset-backed securities, Eurobond trading and mergers and acquisitions. The firm employs about 15,000 full-time staff in more than forty countries around the world.