BROWNSVILLE NATIVE NOE HINOJOSA DOES GOOD; JOINS TRB

(Noe Hinojosa, born in Brownsville, got his big break as an investment banker when  the city commission of Brownsville Texas hired his firm Estrada Hinojosa & Company, Inc. to issue Certificates Of Obligation way back in the early 1990s. Today, he heads his company which is ranked the #1 municipal advisor in Texas and #4 municipal advisor in the nation for the first half of 2023. 

Noe, if you'll remember, was the lone voice against the Tenaska/PUB scam/fiasco of constructing a $500 million electric generation plant, earning the wrath of the economic development Sunshine Boys like Jason Hilts, PUB CEO and Executive Director John Bruciak, former mayor Tony Martinez, and now city manager Helen Ramirez, who wants to replace him as the city's financial advisor. He can smell a scam and a phony a mile away. 

In today's announcement, Estrada Hinojosa and Company joins Texas Regional Bank.)

Texas Regional Bank

Harlingen, Texas – Texas State Bankshares, Inc., the registered bank holding company for Texas Regional Bank (collectively, “TRB”), headquartered in Harlingen, today announced it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Dallas-based investment banking group Estrada Hinojosa & Company, Inc., an investment banking group specializing in public finance pending receipt of all required regulatory and shareholder approvals.

 TRB’s acquisition of Estrada Hinojosa will add a team of 48 individuals and offices in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Edinburg, Miami, Chicago, and New York, to its 30 banking center locations in four regions across Texas.

With the announced transaction, TRB expands into Capital Markets in Texas and beyond. Michael Scaief, Chairman and CEO of TRB, expressed, 

“This is an exciting and well-matched partnership that will expand our services to Capital Markets and further complement our commercial banking franchise. With the addition of Estrada Hinojosa and the capital of TRB, we can offer a full suite of financial solutions to public entities of all sizes.” 

Founded in 1992, Estrada Hinojosa is an investment banking group specializing in public finance and was recently ranked by Refinitiv, the third-party industry statistician, as both the #1 municipal advisor in Texas and #4 municipal advisor in the nation for the first half of 2023. 

Estrada Hinojosa is an industry leader offering municipal advisory services, bond underwriting, and bond trading. Since its inception, the firm has completed over 2,500 municipal advisory transactions with a total par value exceeding $190 billion and over 4,600 underwriting transactions with a total par value of over $460 billion. 

The acquisition by TRB will enhance the ability of the Estrada Hinojosa team to better serve hundreds of issuers both in Texas and nationally with the capital needs related to schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, roadways, drainage systems, airports, stadiums, convention centers, city and county buildings, marine and land ports, public works facilities, transit, and more.

Noe Hinojosa, Jr., Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Estrada Hinojosa, expressed his excitement about the transaction, stating: 

“Entering into a definitive agreement with TRB provides Estrada Hinojosa with access to more capital and resources than ever before, allowing our talented team members to grow the business and take the organization to the next level. The combination of TRB capital and our team’s significant years of experience in public finance will enable us to gain market share in municipal advisory, underwriting, and trading in Texas and across the nation.” 

Hinojosa further emphasized the alignment of similar beginnings and values between the two organizations, stating, “Estrada Hinojosa, whose founding partners have roots in the Texas Rio Grande Valley, has been committed to giving back to the local charities and reinvesting in our communities. TRB, whose headquarters is in the Texas Rio Grande Valley, has built the bank on the same core values. They have a core mission, to be ‘the people you know in the communities we serve.’”

Upon completion of the acquisition, Noe Hinojosa, Jr. will become President of the Capital Markets division, a member of the TRB executive committee, a shareholder of TRB, and a member of the Texas Regional Bank Board of Directors. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to the receipt of necessary regulatory and shareholder approvals.