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J Safra Sarasin Agrees To Buy Private Banking Businesses In Luxembourg, Switzerland

The potential financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Swiss private banking group J Safra Sarasin
has signed an agreement to acquireBank Hapoalim’s
private banking businesses in Luxembourg and Switzerland, which
operates as Bank Hapoalim Switzerland.
The agreement covers qualifying clients and their relationship
management teams who are focused on private banking clients
across Israel and Europe, J Safra Sarasin said in a
statement.
Following this deal, Bank Hapoalim’s qualifying clients and
relationship managers in Luxembourg and Switzerland will join J
Safra Sarasin.
The acquisition is expected to be completed during the course of
the first half of 2018. The agreement is subject to regulatory
approvals and certain other conditions. The potential financial
terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“This transaction underscores our important position in Swiss and
European private banking consolidation,” said Jacob Safra, vice
chairman of J Safra Sarasin Group. “Bank Hapoalim is an excellent
fit within our existing operations and a valuable contribution to
our strategy of servicing the wealth management needs of our
clients on a global basis.”
J Safra Sarasin has banking operations in more than 25 locations,
including offices in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin
America.
In March,
this publication reported that the J Safra Sarasin Group shut
its private banking unit for the German market because it
had not achieved critical mass in business, and decided to
establish a branch in Luxembourg.
This acquisition is one of many deals which are continuously
happening across the world within the wealth management sector.
Ray Soudah, founder of Millennium Associates,
spoke to WealthBriefing about his views on the long
lasting effects of merger and acquisition deals.