Aabar Completes $253m Acquisition 
of AIG Private Bank

The deal was completed on Thursday when American International Group, or AIG, handed over the assets of the financial institution to Aabar Investments, making it the fourth transaction the troubled insurance group has closed in the past three weeks. It is one of 10 asset sale agreements the group has reached in the past few months.

Aabar has assumed approximately $55 million of intra-company loans outstanding to AIG Private Bank.

It is the second major acquisition by Aabar Investments, which in March bought a 9.1 per cent stake in German luxury carmaker Daimler for $2.7 billion, making it the biggest shareholder of the makers of luxury automobiles.

Listed on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange, Aabar is majority owned by the government-backed International Petroleum Investment Company, or IPIC.

AIG Private Bank Ltd, renamed as Falcon Private Bank, is now an independent financial institution, wholly owned by Aabar.

It is headquartered in Switzerland along with branches and representative offices in Geneva, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Dubai.

“Falcon Private Bank will provide a unique platform for us to develop and penetrate into the private banking sector. We welcome Falcon Private Bank to the Aabar family,’ said Khadem Al Qubaisi, chairman of Aabar and designated chairman of Falcon Private Bank.

Al Qubaisi said that there is excellent potential for further growth in the private banking sector in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

“We look forward to working closely with the management of Falcon Private Bank to deliver this expansion,” 
he added. Al Qubaisi said that with this purchase, the company is again demonstrating its successful building of a wide ranging portfolio of sound and long-term investments that bring real value and benefit back to Abu Dhabi.

“The change of name reflects a new era of development for our bank, with a strong focus on sustainable growth, financial strength, and capital preservation for our clients”, said Eduardo Leemann, CEO of Falcon Private Bank.

Falcon Private Bank is a well known Swiss private bank, wholly owned by Aabar, and specialised in wealth management for private clients, wealthy families and institutional investors. Its global clientele has access to more than 40 years of expertise in Swiss private banking and will benefit from the financial strength and government-backed stability of Aabar.

Falcon Private Bank has branches and representative offices in Geneva, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Dubai.

Goldman Sachs International acted as exclusive financial adviser and Clifford Chance LLP along with Baer & Karrer served as legal counsel for the deal.

haseebhaider@khaleejtimes.com