Saxo Bank Gets Green Light to Take Over Dutch Broker BinckBank

Saxo Bank won the permissions of the Dutch and pan-European regulators to acquire BinckBank, a Netherlands-based online broker, for €424 million ($472 million).

The Danish investment service providers said in a joint statement that they obtained “all regulatory clearances” required to close the deal, recommending all shareholders to tender their shares into the offer.

In particular, the two companies said they had secured the ECB’s no objection and the approval of the Dutch central bank on both the appointment of new members to the supervisory board and related changes in the co-policymakers of BinckBank.

The bid for BinckBank takeover began in December 2018, when Saxo Bank, which is a fully licensed and regulated bank, made the first move.

Denmark-based Saxo Bank said it was proposing to acquire all of BinckBank’s outstanding shares for €6.35 per share. At the time, the bid price represented a premium of 35 percent to BinckBank’s share value, which closed today’s trades at €6.33.

The transaction, which was unanimously recommended by BinckBank’s board, was promoted as to help the two firms scale their operations and better manage business pressures.

Competition is heating up

Saxo Bank has extended the initial notification period during which shareholders can submit their shares under the offer to July 31, 2019. Declaring the offer unconditional, however, is subject to the minimum acceptance threshold which requires that at least 80 percent of the shares to be tendered.

Saxo Bank have the formal right to lower the minimum offer threshold to 67 percent of the shares, but the company have expressed no interest in doing that and still expects to meet all conditions. However, in case the acceptance threshold is not satisfied, Saxo Bank may terminate the proposed acquisition.

BinckBank has a significant presence in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Italy, and it aims to Leverage Saxo’s deal to expand in the Online Trading and investment business where competition is heating up. As an online broker, BinckBank offers access to all major financial markets worldwide and supports its customers with discretionary asset management services.

Saxo Bank won the permissions of the Dutch and pan-European regulators to acquire BinckBank, a Netherlands-based online broker, for €424 million ($472 million).

The bid for BinckBank takeover began in December 2018, when Saxo Bank, which is a fully licensed and regulated bank, made the first move.

The transaction, which was unanimously recommended by BinckBank’s board, was promoted as to help the two firms scale their operations and better manage business pressures.