LGT takes majority in Vestra Wealth to expand in Britain
ZURICH (Reuters) - LGT, the private banking and asset management group owned by Liechtenstein's princely family, has agreed to buy a majority stake in Britain's Vestra Wealth, which has 5.6 billion pounds in managed assets, LGT said on Monday.
Its statement gave no financial terms for the deal.
"With this transaction, LGT will gain a significant foothold in the important British market, while Vestra Wealth will further enhance its services to clients in its current partnership setup," it said.
Founded in 2008 by David Scott, a former managing director of UBS and co-founder of Scott Goodman Harris, Vestra has 234 staff and offices in London, Bristol and Jersey.
Subject to regulatory approval of the deal, Vestra Wealth will be renamed LGT Vestra and remain a partnership between LGT and the original partners. Scott will be chairman of the management board and Ben Snee the chief executive, it said.
LGT managed assets of 132.2 billion Swiss francs ($134 billion) at the end of last year for wealthy individuals and institutional clients. It employs around 2,200 people at more than 20 sites in Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East.
(Reporting by Michael Shields; editing by Susan Thomas)
