Keefe's Latest IPO Dream

Hoping to mirror the success of boutique investment bank Evercore Partners(EVR Quote), Keefe, Bruyette & Woods has filed for an IPO.

The company hopes to raise $100 million in an initial public offering, according to a prospectus filed Friday morning. A number of executives at the investment firm will be selling shares, and the company will also receive some cash from the offering.

The Keefe Bruyette offering, which has been in the works for weeks, comes on the same day that Evercore's own IPO made a smashing debut in its first day of trading, breaking a streak of bad luck for new stock deals.

"We expect that our transition to a public company will enhance our ability to execute our growth strategy and meet our clients' needs," the prospectus says. "We believe that as a public company, we will have greater visibility with our clients, increased access to capital and additional currency to explore strategic opportunities as they arise."

Keefe Bruyette first said in May that it planned to pursue an IPO, joining a slew of other boutique banks, including Cowen(COWN Quote), the investment banking arm of France's Societe Generale and San Francisco-based Thomas Weisel Partners(TWPG Quote), that have issued public shares for the first time this year. Some investors questioned whether Keefe Bruyette would proceed with its IPO after another boutique bank, Ryan Beck, pulled its public offering last month.