Geneva-based Union Bancaire Privée is expanding its footprint in Portugal as well as emerging markets in Africa and Latin America by taking over the Swiss subsidiary of Banco Comercial Português.

Geneva-based Union Bancaire Privée said Tuesday it had reached an agreement to acquire Millennium Banque Privée from Banco Comercial Português in an all-share deal. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to complete during the fourth quarter of 2021, UBP said.

Founded in Geneva in 2002, Millennium is a Swiss private bank fully owned by BCP. It specializes in providing private banking services for individual and institutional clients, with a focus on Europe, Latin America and Africa.

Expanding Geographical Footprint

A UBP spokesman said around 60 percent of Millennium’s clients were from Portugal and Brazil and 30 percent from Africa.

This makes it a good fit for UBP, which has only a minor presence in Portugal but has a substantial Brazilian business. UBP already has an Africa desk and Millennium will bring in clients from Mozambique as well as Angola and South Africa.

UBP said the acquisition would increase its assets under management, which stood at 147.4 billion francs ($160.4 billion) as of December 31, 2020, by more than 4 billion francs.
It added that the onboarding of Millennium’s teams would help broadening UBP’s footprint in selected countries, including Portugal and Brazil, and reinforce its capabilities in Geneva.

According to its financial report, Millennium was managing 3.54 billion francs of clients’ money at the end of 2020. It employs 80 people.

BCP Beset by Legal Uncertainty

It is not clear why BCP is disposing of its Swiss unit. BCP, which is mainly involved in retail banking’s, net profit rose 64 percent on the year to 57.8 million euros in the first quarter, but its share price fell 5.8 percent during the quarter while the European Banking Index rose 19 percent. BCP gave the continuing uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

The bank is also wrestling with legal uncertainty. Its Swiss-franc mortgage portfolio is the subject of several lawsuits, which do not, however, affect the Swiss unit.

BCP had said earlier that because of the high degree of regulatory complexity caused by its international retail network from Portugal and Poland to Macao via Africa and Latin America it wanted to reduce the number of jurisdictions in which it operated.