A group of 20 employees at US investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods are selling shares worth $75m (€60m) in its forthcoming initial public offering.

The bank has been owned by its staff since its foundation in 1962. More than 300 employees were shareholders on June 30, although none owns more than 4.1%, according to its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The largest sale is being made by Donald Delson, a managing director in corporate finance, who is selling $15m of shares. Four members of the executive management including John Duffy, chairman and chief executive, are not selling. Family trusts for Joseph Berry, former chairman and co-chief executive who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks, are selling $3.3m if the overallotment is exercised but will retain a $12m stake. Duffy is one of the six staff at the bank who will own a stake worth about $20m when it goes public. The others are Andrew Senchak and Peter Wirth, co-heads of investment banking; Thomas Michaud, president; Joseph Spalluto, managing director in corporate finance; and Dean Rybeck, senior vice-president in fixed income. A group of 27 employees named in the prospectus will retain shares worth $262m. The bank set the range of its offering at between $19 and $21 a share last week. The calculations assume the shares price at the top of their range and the over-allotment option is exercised.