In a bid to acquire the private banking unit’s of ING Group in Asia and Europe, Julius Baer has hired its Swiss counterpart UBS AG, to get advise – reported Reuters. ING, which got E10 billion lifeline from the government last year, intends to persist with its business units in Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands but part with its unwanted private banking operations in Asia.
According to Christian Stark, an analyst at European equity broker Cheuvreux, ING’s Swiss and Asian operations could fetch approximately SWF1.2 billion. However, the bank’s divestment plans met with tepid response, as some banks including Barclays had backed out of the bidding procedure in the last minute, reported the newspaper.
In a report, Mr.Stark wrote: ING’s Swiss private banking assets would enlarge Julius Baer’s operations in Switzerland, while the Asian operations would more than double Julius Baer’s AUM in the region, adding vital scale to the business.
