Four years after acquiring Merrill Lynch’s non-US wealth management business, Swiss bank Julius Baer (JB) is selling a key vertical in India. Mumbai-based law firm Warmond Trustees & Executors has agreed to buy JB’s local trust services operations, in a deal that will see about $1billion of business as well as top executives joining the Indian firm. The vertical, previously known as DSP Merrill Lynch Trust Services, helps high net-worth clients set up private trusts for their succession planning and acts as a corporate trustee for these trusts. The business became part of Julius Baer after its global acquisition of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch’s private banking operations in August 2012 for $800 million. The Swiss bank will continue to run its flagship India wealth management business, where it manages over $6 billion in the country. Key executives including Julius Baer Trust Services Executive Director Anuradha Shah and Director Amit Pathak, along with the team of erstwhile DSP Merrill Lynch Trust services, will move to Warmond, a company promoted by Rajesh Gupta, managing partner of Mumbaibased advocates and solicitor firm SNG and Partners and backed by NA Shah Associates, a full-service boutique advisory firm. Post the acquisition, Warmond will become one of the largest independent players offering estate and succession planning services in the country. “The transaction will enable us to significantly expand our services to a wider set of clients. The deal will take us into a next level as the sector is expected to grow significantly in India in the coming years,” Gupta told ET.
Source: Economic TimesMumbai-based Warmond Trustees & Executors to buy Julius Baer’s trust services business.
Industry: Financial services 2016-03-18