The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, would see Kleinwort Benson Group (KBG), which is itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of financial services group RHJ International, add BHF Bank to its growing family of private-banking entities.
It will also alter RHJI’s stake in KBG – which will remain at approximately 60%, upon the all-cash deal’s completion – as new shareholders are brought in, including China’s Fosun Group, a major private holding company.
Other new shareholders will, pending the deal’s completion, include BlackRock and AQTON SE, the investment company of Stefan Quandt, whose family controls BMW AG, according an RHJI statement outlining the deal.
‘A sister company’ of KB
In that statement, RHJI said BHF Bank would become “a sister company” of Kleinwort Benson, and that the acquisition underscored “RHJI’s commitment to building a private and merchant banking group, offering independent advice and solutions designed to meet clients’ needs”.
RHJI said BHF Bank shared Kleinwort’s “client-focused culture”, and that also like Kleinwort, BHF Bank “has a low-risk business model, strong balance sheet and long history of serving wealthy individuals as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises”.
To best preserve and further develop each bank’s market franchise, the two entities will continue to be managed and operated independently of each other, RHJI said.
RHJI, which is based in Brussels and listed on the Euronext exchange, acquired Kleinwort Benson in 2010. Like the company it is acquiring, Kleinwort’s roots are actually in Germany, as it was founded in Holstein by Hinrich Kleinwort in 1786. This entity, such as it was 175 years later, merged in 1961 with a UK-based firm bearing the Benson name.
