Sarasin on Friday voiced relief that months of uncertainty, as Rabo weighed whether and how to offload the stake in Sarasin are coming to an end.
"In Safra, we will have a new and well capitalized majority shareholder that will reinforce our strong position as an independent Swiss private bank under the Sarasin brand and that will support our business model," Sarasin Chief Executive Joachim Straehle said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters.
Straehle was referring to a bidding war over Sarasin between larger Swiss rival Julius Baer, Safra and — according to reports — at least one other bank. In recent months, Sarasin was not shy about expressing its preference for other bidders over Julius Baer.
Uncertainty is toxic for private banks, where clients value stability, consistency and discretion at a premium. As a result, protracted bidding wars are uncommon and hostile takeovers are unheard of because they repel private bankers, and with them clients and assets.
Unlisted, AAA-rated Rabobank was never a desperate seller, and on Friday left its reasons for selling the stake unclear, though the sale is expected to buttress Rabo's credit rating. Experts suggested that the Dutch bank might be eager to avoid association with Swiss private banking, which is under fire from countries such as the United States, UK and Germany over undeclared assets held in hidden Swiss accounts.
For its part, Sarasin pledged to clean its books of untaxed funds, and urged rivals to do the same.
Under family-owned Safra's ownership, Sarasin hopes to continue to wield considerable influence over its own strategy and expansion. Sarasin will be kept independently in a stable of Safra-owned banks such as Safra National Bank of New York, Safra Suisse and Banque J. Safra Monaco.
At first glance, Sarasin and Safra are a good match: while Sarasin has forced expansion in the Middle East and Asia, fertile hunting ground for private banks targeting the newly-wealthy, Safra's markets are traditionally in the Americas.
Both banks are present in Europe, though overlap is limited. While Safra owns banks in Luxembourg and Monaco, Sarasin has concentrated on so-called European onshore growth markets such as Germany.
Sarasin is among the larger deals in recent years, which include Julius Baer's purchase of private banks Ehinger Armand von Ernst, Ferrier Lullin & Cie, BDL Banco di Lugano and asset manager GAM from UBS in 2005, or the 2002 merger of Geneva rivals Lombard Odier and Darier Hentsch.
The deal leaves Julius Baer, which has roughly 800 million Swiss francs to spend on deals, out of the loop. As recently as Wednesday, Julius Baer — which has pledged to a growth-by-acquisition strategy — was pleading its case to buy Sarasin.
Safra said it will keep Sarasin listed following the deal's closing, expected in the spring. Under Swiss securities law, Safra must make a public offer to buy out minority shareholders, though Safra indicated it doesn't intend to pursue more of Sarasin.
"At present, Safra intends to keep Bank Sarasin listed after closing of the acquisition of the majority shareholding," Safra said in a statement.
