As part of its planned closure of 25 international offices announced in February, the RBS group has announced the sale of its Luxembourg activity, RBS (Luxembourg) SA, to BlackFin Capital Partners, a private equity firm that specialises in financial services.
In Luxembourg, the RBS entity operates in the domain of UCITS and alternative investments as well as funds governance, and had €28.5 bn of assets under administration at the end of 2014.
The RBS group policy to close its international offices was established in order to focus on their core UK business of retail and corporate banking.
Laurent Bouyoux, President of BlackFin Capital Partners, commented “BlackFin is delighted to become RBSL’s new shareholder alongside its management team. Our common objective is to capitalise on RBSL’s assets – a highly qualified team, a strong platform and a proven business model – to seize the growth opportunities arising in the asset management industry. BlackFin’s ambition is to position RBSL, for the long term, as the leading European independent player in its market.”
“We are very pleased that BlackFin Capital Partners is buying RBS (Luxembourg) S.A. This is a good outcome for customers and staff, and provides customers with certainty that we will continue to provide a market leading service,” said Revel Wood, Chief Executive Officer of RBSL.
The completion of the deal is subject to approval of the Luxembourg regulator, Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), and is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of this year.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Luxembourg and Linklaters LLP are advising RBS. Arendt & Medernach is advising BlackFin Capital Partners.
See www.chronicle.lu/categoriesbusinessfinancefundmangement/item/10463-rbs-to-close-25-international-offices-100-jobs-affected-in-luxembourg for February announcement.
