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Julius Baer lowers target for rights issue to fund purchase
SWISS private bank Julius Baer will limit a rights issue to help fund its buy of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s overseas wealth-management business to SFr500m (£393m) from SFr750m.
The bank said in a statement late yesterday that the board had decided to limit the rights issue due to shareholders’ feedback ahead of an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to approve the issue of new equity capital set for 19 September..
The bank reiterated its plans to issue an additional SFr240m in new equity to Bank of America as part of the acquisition funding.
Baer announced the acquisition a week ago as it seeks to expand in emerging markets, but investors balked at the total cost of around SFr1.47bn, sending its shares down.