ZURICH: Julius Baer shares rose by more than two percent after a Swiss finance blog said the private bank could eventually become a takeover target for larger rival Credit Suisse.
Inside Paradeplatz website said, without citing sources, that Zurich-based Credit Suisse was looking at taking over the smaller bank, worth nearly $10bn, as part of a number of options under consideration.
“There is no project name, and no high-ranking executives are talking about specific intentions. So it is a simulation game,” Inside Paradeplatz said.
Julius Baer shares rose as much as 2.5 percent in early trading, compared with a 1.3 percent rise in the European banking sector. By 0820 GMT, the shares had pared some gains to trade up 1.5 percent, still outpacing a 0.4 percent rise in the European banking sector.
Credit Suisse and Julius Baer declined to comment.
Julius Baer is the fourth-largest private bank in Switzerland behind UBS and Credit Suisse, and Geneva-based Pictet & Cie. Baer manages 274bn Swiss francs (£180.27bn) in assets.
An expected resolution to a US tax evasion investigation into Swiss banks is expected to be a catalyst for consolidation in the country’s private banking industry.
Credit Suisse settled its US tax case in May for $2.5bn, more than double what the bank had set aside for the purpose.
Julius Baer is still involved in a criminal investigation into its role in helping wealthy Americans evade their taxes, which it hopes to conclude by year-end.
The bank, which has done a number of M&A deals, is currently integrating its last big acquisition, Merrill Lynch’s overseas wealth arm.
Earlier on Friday, Swiss private bank Notenstein said it was to buy about 1bn francs of assets from Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg’s (LLBW) Swiss wealth management arm.
Reuters
