20/09/2012
Julius Baer shareholders approve capital increase
Julius Baer has taken a further step towards its acquisition of the wealth management activities of Merrill Lynch outside the Unuted States from Bank of America. At an extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting in Zurich, shareholders in the Zurich-based private bank approved a capital increase for this purpose, according to a statement released on 19 September. The owners of the wealth management firm on Wednesday agreed to constitute capital totalling up to CHF500m, via an issue of a maximum of 37.5 million new shares. These shares will be used exclusively to partially finance an acquisition of the wealth management activities of Merrill Lynch outside the United States and Japan. Of the 37.5 million newly-issued securitie, up to 7.5 million share will be issued or transferred to Bank of America (BofA), in keeping with an agreement for the transaction. According to the most recent estimates, BofA would hold a total stake in Julius Baer of between 2% and 4% following the integration of activities. The capital increase is to be held in October.
