Singapore's DBS to buy Societe Generale's Asian private banking business

DBS Bank, one of Singapore- based three bank majors, announced Monday that it has agreed to acquire Societe Generale's Asian private banking business for 220 million U.S. dollars. The purchase covers the Societe Generale's private banking business in Singapore and China's Hong Kong as well as selected parts of the French bank's trust business. This represents approximately 1.75 percent of assets under management based on Societe Generale Private Banking Asia's assets under management of 12.6 billion U.S. dollars as of the end of last year, the DBS bank said in a statement. The DBS bank currently manages around 69 billion Singapore dollars (54.5 billion U.S. dollars) of funds belonging to high net worth individuals as of 2013. Local media Channel NewsAsia said the figure is slightly ahead of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp's Bank of Singapore unit, so the purchase with Societe Generale will "make DBS the clear number one among Singapore's home-grown private banks." Subject to legal and regulatory approvals, as well as certain customary closing conditions, the purchase is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2014. "The transaction will accelerate DBS' ambition of becoming a leading wealth manager in Asia, effectively increasing DBS' high net worth assets under management by more than 20 percent," the DBS bank said in a statement. Under the transaction, DBS' clients will get access to Societe Generale Private Banking's offering in Europe as well as products and services from the French bank's corporate and investment banking arm. Meanwhile, the French bank's clients will also have access to DBS' Private Bank's offering in Asia. DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia, with over 250 branches across 17 markets, mainly in three key Asian markets of Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia.