UBS to sell its Netherlands wealth management activities

The Swiss banking group UBS has agreed to sell its domestic wealth management activities in the Netherlands to Van Lanschot Kempen, an arm of a  Euronext Amsterdam-listed banking group that dates back to the 1700s.

Van Lanschot Kempen will pay an initial acquisition price of €28m, a joint statement reported, although the final price “may be higher or lower depending on the [asset management amount] that will actually transfer to Van Lanschot Kempen” once the deal completes.

This is expected to take place sometime in the third quarter of 2017, the statement added. Van Lanschot, the Euronext Amsterdam-listed entity, is the oldest independent bank in the Netherlands with a history dating back to 1737.

Included in the deal will be all of the client relationships and employees of the wealth management activities of UBS Netherlands – a branch of UBS Europe SE – which currently has assets under management of around €2.6bn, as well as the products and services of the Netherlands branch of UBS Europe SE, the statement said.

Karl Guha, chairman of Van Lanschot Kempen’s executive board, said the acquisition represented “a step-change in our positioning and profile in the top-end of the wealth management market”.

The combination of the two organisations’ wealth management operations, supported by the institutional capabilities of Kempen Capital Management, he added, would create a “unique proposition” for family offices, foundations  and charities and ultra-high net worth private individuals in the Dutch market.

Under the deal, Van Lanschot Kempen and UBS will enter into a cooperation agreement that will include the provision of UBS wealth management research and selected UBS products and services to Van Lanschot Kempen clients.the companies said.

Van Lanschot Kempen does business as a wealth manager operating under the Van Lanschot, Kempen and Evi van Lanschot brand names, and is active in the private banking, asset management and merchant banking sectors.