ABN Amro snaps up German private bank in €672m deal

(Sharecast News) - ABN Amro is to acquire German private bank Hauck Aufhauser Lampe in a €672m deal, it was confirmed on Tuesday. The Dutch lender said the deal would give Bethmann Bank, its German private banking arm, a top three position in wealth management in Germany, with combined assets under management of around €70bn.

It is acquiring the lender from Fosun, the Chinese conglomerate which acquired HAL in 2016. Fosun will retain HAL's asset servicing operations, however, which are based in Luxembourg and Ireland.

Robert Swaak, ABN chief executive, called it a "rare opportunity to add scale" to the bank's German activities.

He continued: "HAL is a long-standing leader in wealth management and has a very strong fit with ABN Amro, both culturally and geographically."

Germany has the largest private banking market in Europe.

Michael Bentlage, chief executive of HAL, said: "The proposed combination...will strengthened further the position in the market and gives the combined bank more opportunities for growth through even broader products and services."

ABN, which has owned Bethmann Bank since 2004, expects the deal to complete in the first quarter of 2025. It said it planned €60m in annual cost synergies over three years.

HAL was created in its current form through the 2021 merger of three long-standing private banks, all of which had been operational since the 1870s. Bethmann Bank was founded in 1712.