On the capital markets side, the acquisition of Continental Illinois helped BankAmerica to build a leveraged finance origination- and distribution business, which allowed the firm's existing broker-dealer, BancAmerica Securities (originally named BA Securities), to become a full-service franchise.[19] In addition, in 1997, BankAmerica acquired Robertson Stephens, a San Francisco–based investment bank specializing in high technology for $540 million.[20] Robertson Stephens was integrated into BancAmerica Securities and the combined subsidiary was renamed "BancAmerica Robertson Stephens".[21]