Rothschild family sign historic agreement with Chinese bank

Baron Benjamin de Rothschild has given up a stake in his family’s LCF Rothschild Group to the Bank of China, the fifth largest bank in the world in terms of market capitalisation in 2007.
 
The two companies have signed a long-term strategic investment and business cooperation agreement covering private banking and asset management businesses in their respective domestic markets and other strategic geographies.
 
It is the first strategic investment by a leading Chinese bank in a Eurozone bank. LCFR focuses on the private banking, asset management and advisory services business, and has more than €100 billion in assets under management.
 
De Rothschild, who succeeded his father Edmond as chairman in 1997 and is the group’s controlling shareholder, will hold 74.19% of LCFR with BOC becoming the second largest shareholder.
 
“I am delighted to welcome this new shareholder,” said de Rothschild. “This agreement opens up a new era of development for LCFR in the tradition of innovation and international expansion of our group”.
 
A statement from BOC said it intends to strengthen its international presence, notably in Europe, and further develop its asset management and private banking businesses by leveraging the strong specialist knowledge and product design expertise of the Rothschild Group.
 
For its part, LCFR is looking to capitalise on BOC’s distribution capabilities and substantial customer base.
 
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