J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, LLC (D/B/A Hilliard Lyons) is a full service investment firm, based in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

, and founded in 1854. The company started as two separate companies, both located in Louisville. In 1965, the companies merged to create the current company. In 1998, the company was acquired by PNC Financial Services

PNC Financial Services

PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is a U.S.-based financial services corporation, with assets of approximately $264.3 billion...

, which operated the company as a subsidiary for their securities and investments division. On November 16, 2007, PNC announced that Hilliard Lyons would be sold to Houchens Industries

Houchens Industries

Houchens Industries, is an American employee-owned company, in business since 1918 when it began as a small grocery operated by founder Ervin Houchens in rural Barren County, Kentucky. The company is headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The company runs about 425 grocery and convenience stores...

, a conglomerate

Conglomerate (company)

A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...

 based in Bowling Green, Kentucky

Bowling Green, Kentucky

Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...

. The transition was completed in 2008.