The family is taking the entity fully private to consolidate Edmond de Rothschild banking activity, it announced this morning.

The Benjamin de Rothschild family today said that it intends to take Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) private to consolidate Edmond de Rothschild banking activity and make the Swiss group its operative holding company.

The offer price for each bearer share is SFr17,945 ($17,805) in cash, or SFr15,500 after deducting its proposed dividend. The stock closed yesterday at SFr16,400 (source: Reuters). Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange in Zurich.

“Upon completion of these operations, all banking activities of the Edmond de Rothschild Group will be consolidated under Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA which will become the operating holding company of the group,” the organisation said in a statement today.

Benjamin de Rothschild is chairman of the board of directors of Edmond de Rothschild Holding SA and Ariane de Rothschild – Mr Rothschild’s wife - is appointed chairwoman of the board of directors of Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA. Vincent Taupin is appointed CEO and Cynthia Tobiano, deputy CEO.

This is the first time a Rothschild-owned private banking business will become fully privately-owned for decades, WealthBriefing understands.

Emmanuel Fiévet, chief executive of the Swiss business, is leaving the firm after a four-year stint in the role. “Over the past four years, Emmanuel Fiévet has contributed to the transformation and modernisation of Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA,” the group said. On an interim basis, he is succeeded by Taupin, as previously mentioned.

Financial results
Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) logged a 5 per cent revenue rise reaching SFr694 million last year, although client assets fell to SFr128 billion at the end of 2018, a drop of 7 per cent, as weaker markets took their toll. The group also suffered a client AuM outflow of SFr2.5 billion last year.

"By taking it [the business] private, we are demonstrating our commitment to our banking group and our ambitions for growth, both organic and through acquisitions,” Benjamin de Rothschild, said.

Leadership line-up
Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA's board said it has approved its executive committee, which now supervises all the Edmond de Rothschild Group banking activities from 14 March. It will be composed of:
- Vincent Taupin, CEO of Edmond Rothschild (Suisse) SA; 
- Cynthia Tobiano, deputy CEO of Edmond Rothschild (Suisse) SA, responsible notably
for finance, treasury and credit; 
- Christophe Caspar is appointed head of the group’s asset management replacing Taupin; 
- Jean Christophe Pernollet, head of risk, legal and compliance; 
- Sabine Rabald, chief operating officer, head of IT, operations and general services; 
- Diego Gaspari, chief human resources officer; 
- Robert Jenkins, chief brand and communications officer; and
- Pierre Etienne Durand, head of strategy.

The consolidation move will take place in three stages:

There will be a capital cut of Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA by cancelling that entity’s treasury shares bought back by share exchange from Rothschild Holding AG for a total of SFr129.2 million. The Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) general meeting on 26 April will propose to cut capital by a total nominal sum of SFr3.8 million. The capital cut requires Swiss regulatory clearance.

The second operation involves the transfer by Edmond de Rothschild SA of all shares held in Edmond de Rothschild (France) to Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA at a market value as determined by an expert – of SFr542.3 million. In exchange for this transfer, Edmond de Rothschild SA will receive 34,987 new registered non-listed shares in Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA at a nominal value of SFr500 each, which will be issued via an ordinary capital increase of Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA at SFr15,500 per new share issued.

In the third stage, Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA will be delisted. Edmond de Rothschild Holding SA will offer to buy all the Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA bearer shares held by the public for SFR17,945 per listed bearer share, the statement said.