J. Safra Sarasin to Buy Majority of Saxo in €1 Billion Deal
(Bloomberg) — Swiss wealth manager Bank J. Safra Sarasin agreed to buy 70% of Denmark’s Saxo Bank A/S, adding to a flurry of deals in the European financial services sector.
Safra said the acquisition values online brokerage firm Saxo at €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion), implying a purchase price of around €1.1 billion. That would make it the Swiss firm’s second-largest deal ever. The announcement confirms a Bloomberg News report last month that J. Safra Sarasin was holding talks with Saxo Bank.
“This is a transformation acquisition that will position us for the future of wealth management,” said Daniel Belfer, Chief Executive Officer of J. Safra Sarasin.
The Swiss bank is part of a family-owned banking empire that spans Brazil, Switzerland and the US. The latest deal will enable Safra to diversify also in terms of its client base, because the two institutions largely operate in different client segments, Belfer said. Saxo has about $118 billion of client assets, about half the $247 billion overseen by Bank J. Safra Sarasin.
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The transaction comes as record profits in European finance fuel a wave of deal proposals, from Spain to Italy and Germany. In Switzerland there have been a few smaller recent deals, such as EFG International AG agreeing to buy Cité Gestion.
The Saxo stake now changing hands was previously held by Geely Financials Denmark A/S, a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd, and Mandatum Group, according to a statement Monday. Saxo’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer Kim Fournais will continue as CEO and retain around 28% of Saxo, which will continue to operate as standalone entity.
The Danish fintech was set up in 1992 and run by co-founders Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen, who turned it into one of Europe’s largest trading platforms. In 2017, Seier Christensen left the bank and sold his stake to Geely.
Saxo said last year that it hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to sell itself.
(Updates with valuation from second paragraph.)
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