SG Hambros Buys Gibraltar Private Banking Unit of ABN Amro

Tom Burroughes

2 July 2008

SG Hambros Bank ( Gibraltar), part of SG Private Banking, said it has acquired all of the Gibraltar-based private banking business of ABN Amro.

The agreement was signed on 26 June 2008 and is expected to become effective in early September 2008. The deal follows SG Hambros Bank's acquisition of ABN Amro’s London-based activities in December 2007, SG Hambros said in a statement. The purchase price of the acquisition was not disclosed.

The deal strengthens SG Hambros presence in Gibraltar, making it one of the leading private banking players in the jurisdiction, the firm said.

"This is a synergistic deal which will approximately double the size of our business in Gibraltar, it will give us critical mass," Eric Barnett, chief executive of SG Hambros told WealthBriefing. "Forty staff and around £700 million in assets under management will be coming over," he said.

This is an asset rather than a company purchase, as ABN Amro operates as a branch in Gibraltar, Mr Barnett said.

This type of deal is part of the strategy of SG Private Banking, which is developing its activities through both internal and external growth in key wealth management markets, the bank said.

The acquisition of ABN Amro’s Gilbraltar-based private banking arm is part of a number of moves in which parts of the Dutch bank have been bought by other banks. The Dutch-Belgian bank Fortis has already acquired the main part of ABN Amro’s private banking operations.

Earlier this month SG Private Banking announced a strategic global tie-up with New York-based Rockefeller Foundation for its ultra high net worth business.

Mr Barnett said that SG Hambros had no other plans to acquire further business units from ABN Amro.