takeovers of uk investment banks and brokerages
FACTBOX-Takeovers of UK investment banks and brokerages September 7, 2004 6:25am ET (Reuters)
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - UK brokerage Cazenove [CAZ.UL] said on Tuesday it was continuing to review possible takeover offers but did not identify its suitors or give any details on the timing of a possible deal.
The firm, which sources have said is in talks with J.P. Morgan and Lehman Brothers , is the most prestigious of Britain's few remaining independent investment banks.
If Cazenove is taken over or absorbed into a U.S. investment bank it would be another landmark for the City of London's financial community, where many venerable British names have been swallowed up by foreign predators.
Following is a list of some of the major takeovers of UK investment banks and brokerages since 1990:
1990 -- Deutsche Bank acquires Morgan Grenfell Group Plc.
1992 -- Dutch-based ABN AMRO Holding NV buys stockbroker Hoare Govett's European business from BankAmerica Corp.
1995 -- Germany's Dresdner Bank, now part of insurer Allianz AG , buys Kleinwort Benson, which it merged with its own investment banking operations to form Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. In September 2000 the bank buys U.S. corporate finance firm Wasserstein Perella forming Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.
March 1995 -- Dutch-based ING buys Barings for a token 1 pound after the merchant bank was ruined by derivatives losses racked up by rogue trader Nick Leeson in Singapore. ING injects $1.08 billion to enable Barings to resume trading.
May 1995 -- S.G. Warburg agrees to sell its investment banking arm to Swiss Bank Corp for 860 million pounds ($1.4 billion). In June 2003 the Swiss bank -- which had by then merged with rival UBS -- dropped the Warburg name and adopted UBS as its global brand.
July 1995 -- Merrill Lynch takes over Smith New Court Plc with an agreed 526 million pounds bid, beating off Germany's Commerzbank .
November 1997 -- BZW's equities arm bought by Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), part of Credit Suisse , from UK bank Barclays Plc .
April 1998 -- UK bank NatWest (now part of Royal Bank of Scotland Plc ) sells its equities business, based on brokerage Wood Mackenzie which it previously bought, to Bankers Trust of the United States -- subsequently taken over by Deutsche Bank.
April 2000 -- Chase Manhattan, now part of J.P. Morgan Chase , buys Robert Fleming Holdings Ltd. for $7.7 billion in cash and stock.
May 2000 -- Citigroup Inc completes the acquisition of the equities business of Schroders Plc , merging it with its Salomon Smith Barney unit.
Jan 2004 -- Lazard [LAZ.UL] seals its purchase of Panmure Gordon from German bank WestLB [WDLG.UL], giving the investment bank a presence in corporate broking and expanding its capital markets activities.
(To read more on Cazenove's statement, please double click on [ID:nL07298316].)
