Sal Oppenheim jr & Cie SCA has entered into agreement to sell the equity trading and derivatives division to Australia-based Macquarie Group. The transaction covers Sal Oppenheim’s retail derivative and certificate business in its entirety.
The agreement provides for a transfer of the staff in this division, including all necessary back-office areas and functions. It also involves the transfer of more than 90 employees to Macquarie prior to and following the transaction.
Frank Langer will assume the role as head of equity trading and derivatives for central Europe under the new name Macquarie Oppenheim. Until 2008, he was a member of the global equity derivatives management committee at Deutsche Bank, responsible for the entire equity derivatives business as global head of X-Markets Trading. He has been in charge of equity trading and derivatives at Sal Oppenheim for the past 14 months.
Wilhelm von Haller, GM of Sal Oppenheim and chairman of the executive board of Sal Oppenheim jr & Cie Verwaltungs AG, said: “We are pleased to have found a reliable and sustainable solution in Macquarie for the staff in Sal Oppenheim’s successful derivatives business. This sale is a further step in restructuring Sal Oppenheim.
“We are determined to seize this as an opportunity and to actively use it to underscore the efficiency of the investment bank for our clients and in the market. Investment banking at Sal Oppenheim has developed into an autonomous business area. We now have the task of building on that and ensuring our clients that we will be continuing on the successful path.”
Mark Gilbert, head of derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Macquarie, said: “Sal Oppenheim’s successful derivatives and structured products business will give Macquarie access to a new range of products, a platform with state-of-the-art technology and top-class employees with in-depth knowledge of the domestic markets. Sal Oppenheim is active as market maker and issuer of derivatives on stock exchanges in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy.”
