الرئيسية
By Dinesh Nair, Reuters
DUBAI, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Swiss private bank Julius
Baer is still interested in fully acquiring Bank
Sarasin and expects to hear a decision on their offer
in the next week, a senior executive said in Dubai on Wednesday.
"We are always looking at acquisitions. Sarasin is still
being considered," Remy Bersier, member of the executive board
at Julius Baer, told a press conference.
"We expect to hear from them in a week's time. It's never
good when it takes a lot of time," he added.
A bank has been mandated to advise Julius Baer on the
acquisition, Bersier said, but he didn't elaborate on who they
were.
"It's good to have a partner in such deals," he said.
The Netherlands' Rabobank is a potential seller of
its 46 percent stake in Bank Sarasin, which equates to 68
percent of voting rights, while Swiss cooperative lender
Raiffeisen has been linked with a bid.
Senior management at Bank Sarasin are said to favour the
Dutch firm, writing a letter to the board asking to resist
Julius Baer's offer, as it would keep the bank independent.
"Julius Baer should be a strong partner for Sarasin. We see
a cultural fit and a strategic fit. It's a matter of price now,"
Bersier said.
Julius Baer was reportedly offering 39 Swiss francs per
share, which would value Sarasin at about 2.5 billion Swiss
francs ($2.73 billion), according to the Tagesanzeiger
newspaper.
The asset base at Switzerland's third-biggest wealth manager
after UBS and Credit Suisse is expected to
improve in the second half of the year, Bersier said.
"In the first half of the year, we suffered from the low
dollar. We expect the second half of the year to be better in
terms of asset base," he said.
Assets under management through October stood unchanged from
June at 166 billion francs.
The bank expects to take a 50 million Swiss francs charge
for a cost-cutting programme that includes the 150 job cuts
confirmed by management earlier this month, it said last week.
Julius Baer has expanded aggressively in the Middle East and
Asia and would continue to do so, according to a separate
executive.
"We aim to add senior relationship managers in the next 2-3
years in the region," Peter Schaer, managing director and chief
executive for the bank's Middle East operations, said.
In June, it named Edmond Carton as head of its Middle East
and Eastern Mediterranean region.
DUBAI, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Swiss private bank Julius
Baer is still interested in fully acquiring Bank
Sarasin and expects to hear a decision on their offer
in the next week, a senior executive said in Dubai on Wednesday.
"We are always looking at acquisitions. Sarasin is still
being considered," Remy Bersier, member of the executive board
at Julius Baer, told a press conference.
"We expect to hear from them in a week's time. It's never
good when it takes a lot of time," he added.
A bank has been mandated to advise Julius Baer on the
acquisition, Bersier said, but he didn't elaborate on who they
were.
"It's good to have a partner in such deals," he said.
The Netherlands' Rabobank is a potential seller of
its 46 percent stake in Bank Sarasin, which equates to 68
percent of voting rights, while Swiss cooperative lender
Raiffeisen has been linked with a bid.
Senior management at Bank Sarasin are said to favour the
Dutch firm, writing a letter to the board asking to resist
Julius Baer's offer, as it would keep the bank independent.
"Julius Baer should be a strong partner for Sarasin. We see
a cultural fit and a strategic fit. It's a matter of price now,"
Bersier said.
Julius Baer was reportedly offering 39 Swiss francs per
share, which would value Sarasin at about 2.5 billion Swiss
francs ($2.73 billion), according to the Tagesanzeiger
newspaper.
The asset base at Switzerland's third-biggest wealth manager
after UBS and Credit Suisse is expected to
improve in the second half of the year, Bersier said.
"In the first half of the year, we suffered from the low
dollar. We expect the second half of the year to be better in
terms of asset base," he said.
Assets under management through October stood unchanged from
June at 166 billion francs.
The bank expects to take a 50 million Swiss francs charge
for a cost-cutting programme that includes the 150 job cuts
confirmed by management earlier this month, it said last week.
Julius Baer has expanded aggressively in the Middle East and
Asia and would continue to do so, according to a separate
executive.
"We aim to add senior relationship managers in the next 2-3
years in the region," Peter Schaer, managing director and chief
executive for the bank's Middle East operations, said.
In June, it named Edmond Carton as head of its Middle East
and Eastern Mediterranean region.