The Rothschild family is quietly taking the Geneva-based wealth manager private – the end of a piece of stock exchange history.
The family behind Edmond de Rothschild is delisting the Swiss private bank after clinching nearly 100 percent of its shares and beginning a squeeze-out, it said on Monday. The share will trade on October 22, 2019 for the last time.
The move represents an end to an unlikely listing: at 44,000 Swiss francs ($45,000) at their peak, Edmond de Rothschild shares were one of Switzerland's priciest. More recently, the stock had traded near 13,000 francs, second in absolute value to chocolate producer Lindt & Spruengli, which costs 80,000 francs.
Investor Perk
The delisting also shuts investors off from an unusual annual perk: a visit to the so-called Château Rothschild, a small castle built in 1858/59 in Pregny-Chambésy outside Geneva, which belongs to the Rothschild family and houses the widow of founder Edmond de Rothschild.
Instead, shareholder meetings will now be a family affair overseen by Benjamin de Rothschild – son of Edmond – and his wife and CEO of the wealth manager, Ariane Rothschild. The castle will reportedly pass to the canton of Geneva when the 56-year-old Swiss banking scion dies. The surrounding gardens will be open to the public and combined with the adjoining Parc de l'Impératrice.
