New hire. (Wall Street West).

Located in the ultra-quiet burb of San Marino, Gardiner & Rauen Inc. has been plying the M&A trade for 25 years, usually with minimal fanfare. But sometimes even merger firms merge.

So it was recently, when Gardiner & Rauen joined forces with Robert Q. Parsons Co., the investment banking outfit. Robert "Pete" Parsons has moved into the G&R San Marino offices, the same warrens it has occupied since 1977, and will take the title of senior managing director. Mike Marevich and Bob Singh also made the move and retain their titles of managing directors.

"It just seemed we would probably work better together and serve our clients more efficiently if we worked out of the same office," said Parsons, who has collaborated with Gardiner & Rauen on deals over the last 30 years.

The joint operation has 13 companies up for sale, ranging from $1 million in sales to $40 million.

A smaller boutique investment banking shop, G&R is typically retained by Southern California sellers of businesses worth between $2 million and $50 million.

Economic conditions may vary, financing may tighten or loosen, but one thing has stayed the same over the past 25 years, says Rauen: "You can never tell when a deal is going to be easy or hard to finish."

The most common monkey wrench is seller's remorse. "They start to think they don't want to sell, there are too many memories, or what will they do with themselves all day long," Rauen says. In one's own business, an owner may be a respected satrap. Once the business is sold, a seller fears he can lose his or her identity, become a nobody, even with money. Then, Rauen finds himself playing amateur psychologist, nudging the seller to cut a deal. "In the business, we call it hand-holding," says Rauen.

Contributing columnist Benjamin Mark Cole writes about the local investment community for the Los Angeles Business Journal. He can be reached at [e-mail].