Alm. Brand To Acquire Saxo Banks Retail Bank Unit For $60m

Danish financial services group Alm. Brand has agreed to acquire Saxo Privatbank from its parent firm Saxo Bank for around DKK360m ($60.1m).

With branches across Denmark, Saxo Privatbank is a fully licensed retail bank that serves around 17,500 customers, including 15,000 are private customers and 2,500 small and medium-sized businesses.

The acquired business include total loans and advances of DKK 1.8bn ($300m) total loans under Totalkredit facilities of DKK 5.2bn ($862m) and deposits of DKK 3.2bn ($534m).

The deal also includes the acquisition of assets under management and custody accounts of DKK20bn ($3.34bn).

Alm. Brand will acquire Saxo Privatbank’s properties and other investment assets, including seven branches and two administrative offices.

The acquisition also covers the bank’s service and advisory set-up, including 110 employees.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to complete in April of this year.

In addition, Saxo will partner with Alm. Brand Bank to help clients trade and invest in stocks, bonds, ETFs and mutual funds through SaxoTraderGO.

Saxo Bank co-founder and CEO Kim Fournais said: “We have accepted an offer from Alm Brand because we believe this will create a win-win situation for both Saxo Bank, Alm. Brand and the clients of Saxo Privatbank.

“We also announce a strong partnership allowing all clients of Alm. Brand Bank to gain access to Saxo’s trading platform and global capital markets and it is a strategic decision to grow our business via partnerships globally.”

Established in 1992, Saxo Bank Gropu introduced its first online trading platform in 1998.

With over 1500 employees, Saxo Bank operates financial centers across the globe, including London, Paris, Zurich, Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Image: Saxo Bank headquarters in Hellerup, Denmark. Photo: courtesy of Jensejnerjep.