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ABN Amro has agreed to buy German private lender Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe for €672mn from Chinese conglomerate Fosun, as the Dutch bank bets on rising demand for financial advice from wealthy families in Europe’s largest economy.
The acquisition will turn ABN Amro, which already owns German private lender Bethmann Bank, into the country’s third-largest wealth manager, the Dutch bank said on Tuesday.
ABN Amro is paying cash for Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe, which was founded in the late 18th century but since 2016 has been owned by Fosun. It manages €26bn in assets for wealthy clients and also offers corporate banking services to family-owned businesses.
Robert Swaak, chief executive of ABN Amro, said the deal was a “rare opportunity” to enlarge its German operations, describing the target as a “very strong fit . . . both culturally and geographically”. Hauck Aufhäuser reported €83mn in net profit in 2023.
With the windfall from higher interest rates fading, ABN Amro has been seeking to diversify its revenues and has targeted wealth management. Shares in the company are up 8 per cent over the past year while Fosun International shares, listed in Hong Kong, have fallen 10 per cent over the same period.
Fosun was among the wave of Chinese companies that expanded aggressively overseas before the pandemic, snapping up assets including French resort group Club Med and English Premier League football club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
However, it has since been disposing of assets as higher interest rates take their toll on the highly leveraged group. Fosun said on Tuesday that the sale of Hauck Aufhäuser was part its “effort of streamlining its portfolio and enhancing asset-light operation strategy”.
Earlier this year, Fosun sold a 9 per cent stake in Belgium insurer Ageas to BNP Paribas for €730mn.
ABN Amro, which expects the transaction to close in the first quarter of next year, plans to make €60mn in annual cost synergies over three years. The Chinese conglomerate will keep Hauck Aufhäuser’s asset servicing operations that are based in Luxembourg and Ireland.
The Dutch bank has owned Bethmann Bank, which was founded in 1712 and counted Austrian archduchess Maria Theresa and Russian emperor Alexander I among its clients, since 2004. Last year, it acquired the 9,000 German wealth management clients of Credit Suisse.
