Following its recent statement it was in talks to buy an Austrian and Swiss business, LLB has announced one element of its plans, saying it will exceed its stated growth target.

Liechtensteinische Landesbank today said it has agreed to buy all the shares of Vienna-based Semper Constantia Privatbank AG, increasing client assets by around SFr17 billion ($17.2 billion) and following up on its recent statement that it was in talks to buy an Austrian business.

LLB will also post a new business volume of more than SFr75 billion as a result of this acquisition, it said in a statement. The purchase price (given in euros rather than Swiss francs) is about €185 million ($219.3 million), it said.

The present main shareholders of Semper Constantia plan to hold around 6 per cent of LLB. At the shareholder’ general meeting on 9 May 2018, the board of directors will propose that Dr Karl Sevelda be elected as member of the LLB board of directors.

"The LLB Group with its StepUp2020 strategy is aiming at sustainable profitable growth. This acquisition is fully in line with our strategy to grow both organically and through acquisitions. With the acquisition of Semper Constantia, we will be able to significantly exceed our target, ahead of time, of increasing the business volume above CHF 70 billion,” Georg Wohlwend, chairman of the board of directors of LLB Group, said.

The bank’s statement said both banks have similar business operations, offering staff “interesting and valuable future prospects”. It did not state whether any duplication of staff roles might lead to redundancies or changes in its structure. This publication may update in due course. 

LLB said Austria is one of its three home markets alongside Liechtenstein and Switzerland. It has operated the subsidiary Liechtensteinische Landesbank (Österreich) in Vienna since 2009 and runs the asset management business.

"Semper Constantia with its strong positioning in the private banking and institutional business and its excellent reputation represents an ideal addition to the activities of the LLB Group in Austria. After successful consolidation the combined unit will be one of the top providers in the private banking and institution business in Austria. This means it is ideally placed for further growth in this attractive market,” LLB said.

The transaction, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, will take place in two stages. Initially, and probably in July next year, LLB will acquire Semper Constantia. In a second stage, in September 2018, Semper Constantia will merge with LLB Österreich to form Liechtensteinische Landesbank (Österreich). Dr Gabriel Brenna will become chairman of the supervisory board and Dr Bernhard Ramsauer will become CEO of the merged bank. 

A transfer of Dr Ramsauer to the supervisory board of Liechtensteinische Landesbank (Österreich) is planned at the time of the annual general meeting in spring 2019.

The purchase price of approximately €185 million, made up of equity and goodwill, will be paid partly in cash and partly in LLB shares. For this purpose, the LLB is allocating 1.85 million of its own shares. The definitive purchase price will be decided on closing or after the end of the earn-out period respectively, it said.

Earlier this week, in another statement, LLB said it expects to chalk up the same net profit for the 2017 financial year as was the case a year ago, when the figure came out at SFr103.9 million ($104.9 million). The bank said its predictions take account of a deposit of a sum of money at the High Court of Justice in London in connection with a lawsuit involving its subsidiary business, LLB Verwaltung (Switzerland) Ltd. LLB Verwaltung (Switzerland) Ltd used to be called Liechtensteinische Landesbank (Switzerland).