The Bank of Singapore, along with rival Singapore bank DBS and Swiss-headquartered Julius Baer, submitted non-binding bids for the Asian private wealth business in February.
It was reported last month that DBS was thought to be the front runner in the bidding process.
Capture opportunities
OCBC believes that the acquisition will broaden its wealth management franchise across its core markets and strengthens the Bank of Singapore’s position as Asia’s global private bank.
A statement from OCBC read: “The acquisition further positions Bank of Singapore to capture opportunities in the two strategic private banking hubs in Asia: Singapore and Hong Kong.”
Bahren Shaari, chief executive, Bank of Singapore, said: “Strategically, this acquisition further broadens our geographical footprint and client coverage while adding scale, deepening our presence in our core Asian Markets, including southeast Asia, greater China, and the Middle East, namely the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.”
Barclays WIM Singapore and Hong Kong will add more than 1,800 clients and total AUM of $18.3bn to two of OCBC’s core markets: Singapore and Greater China.
Following completion of the acquisition, Bank of Singapore’s AUM will rise by 33.3% to $73.3bn.
