寶盛將收購美林海外財富管理業務

Julius Baeris to buy the non-US wealth management operations of Merrill Lynch, boosting the Swiss private bank's assets by almost half and netting as much as SFr860m ($840m) for Bank of America, which owns the lossmaking unit.

瑞士私人銀行寶盛(Julius Baer)將收購美林(Merrill Lynch)的非美國財富管理業務，這將令寶盛的資產規模擴大近一半，並讓目前擁有這塊虧損業務的美國銀行(Bank of America)回籠8.60億瑞士法郎（合8.40億美元）。

The acquisition is Julius Baer's largest since it bought four wealth management businesses from UBS in 2005, and it marks its biggest leap forward since deciding to concentrate on private banking three years ago.

這是寶盛自2005年從瑞銀(UBS)收購4家財富管理公司以來，規模最大的一筆收購，也標誌着自3年前決定專注於私人銀行業務以來，寶盛向前邁出了最大的一步。

For Bank of America, which acquired Merrill Lynch in the depths of the financial crisis, the sale of the unprofitable business marks one more step in the US bank's reorganisation plan. The bank opted to put the international Merrill Lynch business up for sale earlier this year, following a strategic review.

對於美國銀行而言，出售這塊無利可圖的業務標誌着該行重組計劃的又一步驟。該銀行曾在金融危機的嚴重時期收購美林。今年早些時候，在進行戰略評估後，美國銀行決定將美林國際業務掛牌出售。

The deal will give Julius Baer offices in eight new markets globally and help bolster its footprint in Asia, which it considers to be its second home market.

該交易將讓寶盛在全球8個新市場展開業務，並幫助擴大其在亞洲的地盤。該公司將亞洲視爲第二個本土市場。

But investors sent its share price down more than 6 per cent to SFr33.05 yesterday on worries over the dilution from a planned capital hike and financing.

但投資者昨日將寶盛股價推低逾6%，至33.05瑞士法郎，因他們對計劃中的股本擴大的稀釋效應以及融資感到擔憂。

To fund the deal, Julius Baer will embark on a SFr750m rights issue, redeploy SFr530m of excess capital previously earmarked for a share buyback programme and issue SFr200m in new hybrid capital. Bank of America will also be issued with SFr240m worth of shares, giving it a 3 per cent stake in the enlarged Julius Baer.

爲了給這筆交易融資，寶盛將啓動7.50億瑞士法郎的配股，重新部署先前擬用於回購股票的過剩資本，併發行2億瑞士法郎的混合新債券。此外，寶盛將面向美國銀行發行價值2.40億瑞士法郎的股票，這將令美國銀行獲得擴大後的寶盛3%的股權。

In addition to the purchase price, Julius Baer will need an extra SFr300m in regulatory capital to support its new risk-weighted assets. The restructuring and retention costs associated with the deal are expected to run to SFr400m.

除了收購價之外，寶盛還需要3億瑞士法郎的監管資本，以支持其新的風險加權資產。預計重組以及與交易相關的顧客維繫成本將高達4億瑞士法郎。

Boris Collardi, chief executive, said the deal would give Julius Baer the scale to compete in the global wealth management business.

寶盛首席執行官高力達(Boris Collardi)表示，這筆交易將令該公司獲得在全球財富管理業務展開競爭所需要的規模。