Julius Baer grabs BoA arm for Sfr860m

Switzerland's third-largest private bank Julius Baer has agreed to buy Bank of America's Merrill Lynch wealth management business outside the United States in a deal worth some Sfr860m (£561m).

Bank of America put the business, which has some Sfr72bn of assets under management, up for sale in April and Julius Baer emerged as the lead bidder in June. The American bank said its wealth management business outside its home country was not large enough to be a core business.

Some 2,000 staff will transfer to Julius Baer and more than two-thirds of the assets being taken on come from clients in faster-growing markets like Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Boris Collardi, the chief executive of Julius Baer, added: "This acquisition brings us a major step forward in our growth strategy and will considerably strengthen Julius Baer's leading position in global private banking by adding a new dimension, not only to growth markets but also to Europe."

Baer has bought a string of wealth management and private-banking businesses over the past seven years.