EFG International is upbeat about progress regarding its agreement to acquire fellow Swiss private bank BSI.

EFG International, which in February agreed to buy fellow Swiss-headquartered private bank BSI from Brazilian parent BTG Pactual, today said preparations to combine the businesses are off to a "good start".

Updating investors on the acquisition, EFG outlined moves to migrate BSI to its IT core banking platform by the end of 2017 and gave more detail on the targeted fully phased-in pre-tax cost synergies it intends to achieve of around SFr185 million ($191.7 million) by 2019.

“Preparations for the business combination of EFG and BSI to create a leading Swiss private bank have gotten off to a good start. With their strong focus on private banking, the two banks have a lot in common, and by joining forces, we will be able to make an attractive value proposition to clients, employees and shareholders. With a view to the future business, we have decided that the combined bank will operate on EFG’s core banking platform from 2018 onwards due to the lower costs that will ensue," said Joachim Straehle, chief executive of of EFG International.

As announced on 22 February, the agreement by EFG to buy BSI creates a combined bank with assets under management of SFr170 billion and 860 relationship managers. There had been speculation that Brazil-based BTG Pactual was to sell BSI barely a few weeks after having bought it. BTG Pactual has been engulfed in a corruption scandal and has been looking to raise capital.

EFG International will pay in cash and EFG shares for the deal, it said in February. (To see a story on details of the financing of the transaction, see here.)

Subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, completion of the transaction is expected in the fourth quarter of this year.

EFG International logged an underlying recurring net profit of SFr91.1 million in 2015, a fall of 30 per cent on a year earlier, and an IFRS net profit of SFr57.1 million, down by 7 per cent on the prior year. The cost-income ratio was 86.1 per cent, up from 79.8 per cent; revenue-generating assets under management were SFr83.3 billion, down from SFr84.2 billion. There were net inflows of SFr2.4 billion, down from SFr4.4 billion.