Vontobel's hunt for a suitable bank to acquire was lenghty: The Zurich-based private bank today announced it agreed to buy Finter Bank with branches in Zurich and in Lugano from Italmobiliare. With this acquisition yet another Swiss banking brand will disappear.
With the acquisition of Finter Bank, Vontobel is strengthening its private banking business with Italian clients and in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland, the company said in a statement on Friday. Finter offers private banking services to customers in Italy and Switzerland and has assets under management totalling 1.6 billion Swiss francs. It employs 65 people.
Vontobel agreed to a purchase price of 1.1 percent of Finter's assets under management plus its book value, which primarily consists of excess capital, the bank said. Italmobiliare, the industrial and financial holding company of Italy's Pesenti family, will receive part of the purchase price in Vontobel shares.
Vontobel will finance the acquisition in full with own assets and treasury shares, the company said. It expects the new business to contribute to its earnings from 2016.
Independent of today's acquisition, Zurich-based Vontobel has served clients in Italy since 2002 and manages assets of 6 billion francs in that country.
