Jefferies Dumps Last Vestiges of Leucadia’s Merchant Bank (1)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. plans to shed two of the remaining pieces of Leucadia National Corp.’s merchant-banking operation to focus on investment banking and simplify its corporate structure.

The firm will spin off Vitesse Energy to shareholders and sell Idaho Timber, Jefferies said in a statement Tuesday. The Idaho Timber deal will involve two transactions with a combined sale price of $239 million, generating a pretax gain of $140 million.

“Today’s announcement is yet another milestone in our long-term plan to focus Jefferies on its core businesses -- investment banking and capital markets,” Jefferies Chief Executive Officer Rich Handler said ...