TPG Capital, the private equity firm started by David Bonderman, bought a 30 percent stake in Denmark’s Saxo Bank A/S, and plans to expand the asset manager and online trader in emerging markets, Bloomberg reports.
Several long standing Saxo Bank investors such as General Atlantic were looking to liquidate their investment for a while now and there were several reports of deals almost complete in past few months. Interesting to note that TPG didn't buy out the full 30% General Atlantic holds or bought this block of share from the owners, who more than once were rumored to be looking to liquidate some of their holdings, but from several various investors such as General Atlantic, Banco Espirito and others.
Saxo Bank reported solid H1 2011 results last week with Operating Income being $343 million and Net Profit of $67 million.
TPG has the option to increase its holding to 40 percent, Saxo and Fort-Worth, Texas-based TPG said in a statement today. The purchase values the Danish firm at about 9.6 billion kroner ($1.9 billion), said a person with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be identified because the terms weren’t disclosed. That values TPG’s 30 percent stake at about $560 million.
“Saxo Bank has achieved impressive growth, and we look forward to supporting the future diversification strategy,” Asiff Hirji, a partner at TPG, said in the statement. “TPG has a strong track record of investing in and growing financial- services businesses, particularly those seeking further expansion in emerging markets, where we see tremendous opportunities for Saxo Bank.”
TPG is buying the stake from investors including Banco Espirito Santo SA (BES), Portugal’s biggest publicly traded lender. The Lisbon-based bank has been seeking to bolster capital by selling assets, including a stake in Brazil’s Banco Bradesco SA, as Portugal’s financial crisis has made access to wholesale funding more difficult for the nation’s banks. Portugal in April became the third euro-region country after Greece and Ireland to request external aid.
Other Saxo investors who sold shares to TPG included Espírito Santo Financial Group S.A. and private-equity firm General Atlantic LLC.
General Atlantic, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, invested in Saxo Bank in 2005, and both Espirito Santo Financial Group and Banco Espirito Santo invested in the company in 2008. Saxo founders Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen will maintain majority ownership and continue as chief executive officers, the statement said.
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