Nov. 20--Blue-blooded broker Cazenove has brought the curtain down on 180 years of independence after handing the keys to its City empire over to US partner JP Morgan

The £1bn deal will trigger huge payouts for the firm's 1,500 former and current staff, with multi-million pound windfalls earmarked for dozens of its impeccablyconnected dealmakers.

Chairman David Mayhew will bag more than £21m after spending four decades at the firm, while finance chief Michael Power will receive £11m.

The takeover marks the end of an era for Cazenove, which financed numerous railway companies in the 19th century and counts the Queen and David Beckham among its clients.

"Caz" was the last of Britain's historic stockbrokers to have clung on their independence through the upheavals of the past quarter century.

The Big Bang of 1986 unleashed a wave of deregulation, sweeping dozens of famous investment houses such as Flemings, Schroders and Hambros into the arms of overseas financial giants.

While the Cazenove name is expected to be retained, the establishment culture that marked the firm out may be diluted by its new US owner.

Traditionally the firm recruited the bulk of its staff from top public schools like Eton and Winchester, and has had scores of minor aristocrats on the payroll down the years.

Following the takeover, the Cazenove trading arm and investment bank will be folded into the Wall Street giant. Insiders say that some of its 660 staff will lose their jobs.

Experts said that stitching the two groups together shouldn't take long as JP Morgan already owns a half stake in the broker following a £700m deal five years ago.

It is unclear what the future holds for chief executive Naguib Kheraj, who defected from Barclays eighteen months ago.

His role will effectively disappear once the integration is complete, but declined to say whether he'll stay on at the firm in a different role. Mayhew, by contrast, will remain in his job for the medium term at least.

The fallout from the Guinness share trading scandal has proved little hindrance to the Old Etonian's rise through the Cazenove ranks.

He was implicated in the 1980s fraud but charges against the City grandee were later dropped.

Cazenove is enjoying a record year after advising on most of the UK's high profile fundraisings this year, including rights issues by HSBC, Rio Tinto and Lloyds Banking Group.

It is the corporate broker to 36 out of the FTSE 100, and 94 of the FTSE 250.

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