Concordia, the family holding company and the largest shareholder of Rothschild & Co, is preparing a takeover bid for the financial institution. An offer will be submitted to shareholders by the end of May.
The Paris-listed investment bank Rothschild & Co with offices in Geneva and Zurich seeks a return to full ownership of the family holding company of its largest shareholder and withdraw from the Paris stock exchange.
Concordia is prepared to make an offer at 48 euros per share, according to a statement Monday. An ordinary dividend of 1.40 euros will be added to the purchase price, along with a special dividend of eight euros if Concordia decides to file the offer, valuing the bank at around 3.7 billion euros ($4 billion).
Three Business Units
Concordia reportedly currently owns 38.9 percent of the company's shares and 47.5 percent of the voting rights. It is in advanced negotiations with investors and banks to finalize the financing of the offer, it added.
Rothschild & Co has three business units: the investment bank, asset and wealth management, and business banking. The units would function better as a private company and would not rely on stock market financing, it said of the reasons for the planned move.
Long-Term Development
Each of the businesses is better valued based on its long-term performance rather than short-term earnings. Therefore, private ownership of the group is more appropriate than a stock market listing, it said.
In recent years, Rothschild & Co expanded its US investment banking operations and presence in Europe. The business focuses on the UK and France. In Dealogic's 2022 ranking of M&A fees in EMEA, Rothschild & Co ranked third behind Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
In Zurich, Rothschild & Co had just announced a further expansion in December, hiring an entire new onshore team. The aim is to accelerate growth in the region. In Geneva, it acquired the private bank Banque Pâris Bertrand in 2020.
