Swiss wealth M&A may kill two birds with one stone

EFG International AG

28/05/2024 11:23

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are her own.)
    By Lisa Jucca
       MILAN, May 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Julius Baer and
EFG held merger talks, Reuters and others reported. With just
$640 bln of combined assets under management, they’d be unlikely
to threaten UBS. Yet a deal would make financial sense, and EFG
CEO Giorgio Pradelli could fill a leadership void at its larger
peer.
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    CONTEXT NEWS
    Swiss private bank Julius Baer held talks with EFG
International about a potential takeover in recent months but
the discussions have stopped, Reuters reported on May 24 citing
people with knowledge of the matter.
    The discussions took place around the time former Julius
Baer CEO Philipp Rickenbacher was ousted following big losses on
loans to failed property group Signa, Reuters also reported.
    EFG, in which the Greek Latsis family controls 45% of the
voting rights, on May 28 reported earnings of 110 million Swiss
francs for the first four months of 2024, while net new assets
totalled 3.6 billion Swiss francs.

 (Editing by Liam Proud and Oliver Taslic)
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