UBS has made it a principle to grow its wealth management business organically. Now it has made an exception in France and acquired a company that promises to provide access to a top, exclusive network of potential clients.
The rumors about the takeover first surfaced in September, and now they been turned into reality: UBS confirmed it has agreed to buy Banque Leonardo France, «AFP» reported.
The French UBS subsidiary will assume 100 percent of France-based Banque Leonardo. The company belongs to the Leonardo group from Milan and is small fry compared with UBS, managing 2 billion euros in total.
First Deal in a Year
Why make an exception to the rule for such a tiny company? After all, UBS wealth management is expanding even without acquiring other companies. The last takeover dates back to the end of last year, when the Swiss No. 1 bought the wealth-management unit of Santander in Italy.
The deal entails two components: in a next step, the companies will launch a joint venture called «La Maison de Gestion». It will combine parts of UBS France's asset management and OCEA, the wealth management division of Banque Leonardo.
The Swiss partner will own a majority of the company, which will have 4 billion euros to start with and focus on services for very rich families (family office).
Billionaires' Club
Which brings us to the truly interesting aspect about this deal: the minority partner is the exclusive «La Maison» investors club, a group of billionaires including the Dassault family of France, Michel David-Weill (Eurazeo) and Carlo De Benedetti, one of the top 150 richest people in Switzerland.
What's more, one of the shareholders of the Leonardo Group is Exor investment firm – which is owned by the Agnelli family of Fiat fame.
Friends of Friends
With the transaction in France, UBS thus has acquired the access to the circle of super rich individuals and families. Michel Cicurel will be in charge of the joint venture and responsible for the maintenance of good relations with the influential investors.
Cicurel is the former boss of Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild. He is also the chairman of Banque Leonardo and as such the architect of the deal with the Swiss hegemon. He also was the founder of «La Maison».
