Swiss private banking giant Julius Bär changes its strategy and prepares to sell Italy’s asset management company Kairos sgr, just after having raised its stake to 100% last January (see here the press release), MF Milano Finanza wrote, adding that Goldman Sachs is advising Julius Bär for the deal.
The asset management form founded by chairman and ceo Paolo Basilico might be valued about 500 million euros, as Julius Bär bought its 20% final stake for a 96 million euros price last January. Julius Bär had initialluy acquire a 19.9% stake in Kairos in 2013 and raised it to 80% in 2016.
Kairos sgr has more than 11 billion euros of assets under management and is said to be of special interest for international private equity firms with a specific focus on financial services such as Apax Partners, Centerbridge, Altas Merchant, JC Flowers, Hellman&Friedman. However some international financial institution such as Credit Suisse and JPMorgan are said to be studying the deal.
Kairos sgr produced net fees for 122.8 million euro in 2017 with 44 million euros in net profit so the firm paid a 43.9 million dividend. The parent company Kairos Investment Management produced 199 million euros in net fees and 59.3 million euros in net profits while paying 20 million euros in dividends to Julius Bär Group.
