Bellevue Group is thinking of selling its banking unit. The admission follows a finews.com report that Luxembourg's KBL has submitted a non-binding offer for the Swiss bank.
Swiss banking firm Bellevue Group is talking to potential buyers, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The move followed a report by finews.com that KBL European Private Bankers recently submitted a non-binding offer for Bellevue's bank.
«Bellevue Group is reviewing various strategic options for Bank am Bellevue. In this context, it also has discussions with potential interested parties about a sale of the bank,» the bank said. Bellevue didn't mention KBL in its statement, nor specify with whom it is speaking.
Dealmaking Pledge
For KBL, which will be run by Juerg Zeltner as soon as European overseers greenlight the move, buying Bellevue represents a swift and economical way to a Swiss banking license. Last month, Zeltner told finews.ch (in German) he planned to rapidly expand KBL – including by acquisition.
Bellevue has tried to break into wealth management in recent years – with mixed results. «The results achieved so far do not correspond to the expectations and ambitions of the board of directors and group management,» the Swiss broker-cum-asset manager said. It manages roughly 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.1 billion) in assets.
