DZ Privatbank, the Luxembourg-based private banking business of Germany’s DZ Bank, is in the process of acquiring parts of the private banking arm of UniCredit Luxembourg, with the aim of strengthening the firm's presence in the country.

With the transaction, DZ Privatbank will gain around 10,000 clients as well as UniCredit’s related employees, the firm said in a statement. The acquisition and associated integration should be completed by the end of 2010, subject to the required corporate and regulatory authorisations.

According to UniCredit Luxembourg's statement on the deal, the transfer of 10,000 clients represents around three per cent of its Luxembourg-based operation’s net profit last year and around 22 per cent of its customers’ financial assets.

Following the transaction, UniCredit Luxembourg will maintain its current operations in other areas such as corporate banking, investment banking and treasury. Meanwhile, the Italian bank will focus its private banking activities in Luxembourg on wealth management in the high net worth and ultra high net worth segments, as well as on providing services to the UniCredit Group in areas such as asset management for life insurance policies.

In other developments, earlier this month DZ Privatbank opened its first offices in Hanover, Munich and Stuttgart in Germany, as part of its development of private banking offerings in the country.