Switzerland’s Banque Bonhôte is expanding to Zurich: the company is buying a local private bank, thus becoming an active consolidator.
Banque Bonhôte is sticking to its plan of expansion in Switzerland. The Neuchâtel-based bank agreed to buy Bank Private Client Partners (PCP), which has its headquarters in Zurich. PCP belongs German banking group M.M. Warburg is specializes in the business with family offices.
Bonhôte Chairman Jean Berthoud said: «Our goal to actively participate in the consolidation of the Swiss banking industry has become a reality. In terms of both its location and the nature of its services, this entity is exactly what we have been looking to acquire in order to enhance our service offering for our UHNW clients.»
Reaching a New Dimension
Step by step, Bonhôte will make available the services of PCP to existing and potential new clients in the French-speaking part of Switzerland and abroad.
With the acquisition of PCP, Bonhôte is making the step to being a bank with assets in the range of 5 to 10 billion Swiss francs ($5.29 to 10.6 billion). PCP has about 2 billion francs in assets under management, according to information obtained by finews.com, while Bonhôte has in the region of 5 billion francs.
New Head of Zurich Office
PCP will continue its business in Zurich under the name of Bonhôte. The new owners however will install a new head of office. Beat Widmer, a longstanding acquaintance of Banque Bonhôte, will head the subsidiary and its fifteen staff. Andreas Bodenmann, previously in charge of the bank and the founder of PCP, will remain on board in an active role with clients.
Bonhôte doesn’t have a prominent name in German-speaking Switzerland. The company was founded in 1815 and only recently took over a team of bankers in Solothurn. The funds business is an important part of its business. The real estate fund has more than 1 billion francs under management.
M.M. Warburg and the German Connections
PCP is also little known in Zurich. The firm was set up in 1998, then bought in 2010 by M.M. Warburg, which ran it as an independent unit. The German bank recently made headlines with its involvement in the cum-ex-scandal. Several bankers have been charged and the bank may have to pay more than 100 million euros to the German state.
