Vontobel is making a second major acquisition this year: the Zurich-based private bank is buying Lombard Odier’s U.S. business with private clients.
Vontobel agreed to buy Lombard Odier’s wealth management and advisory business with private clients in the U.S., the companies said in a joint statement on Friday. The Zurich-based bank will assume 1.2 billion Swiss francs ($1.2 billion) in client assets.
Lombard Odier had a SEC-registered unit based in Montreal with 600 million francs in client assets in wealth management and 600 million francs in brokerage.
Cooperation in North America
Vontobel intends to integrate the relationship managers based in Montreal into the New York team of Swiss Wealth Advisors. The companies didn’t say how much the Zurich-based bank paid for the business.
The private banks will also work more closely together in the region. Lombard Odier in future will recommend Vontobel to their private clients in the U.S. The market is less important to Lombard Odier, while Vontobel has earmarked North America as a focus market. Lombard Odier lacked the scale and client proximity to make the business worth its while.
«Lombard Odier and Vontobel have a long-standing business relationship based on mutual trust, which is underscored by the agreed cooperation,» said Vontobel CEO Zeno Staub.
Second Deal of the Year
Vontobel will finance the transaction from its own funds. It expects to conclude the deal in the first half of 2019.
The acquisition is Vontobel’s second major deal this year. The bank bought Notenstein La Roche private bank from Raiffeisen Switzerland in the summer, adding 16.5 billion francs in client assets to its books.
