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Library picture of Clearstream offices in Kirchberg. Photo credit: Etienne Delorme (2009) 

UBS will retain 48.8% of Fondcenter, with an option to sell the stake to Clearstream “at a later time.”

Clearstream said it would combine the UBS unit with its own fund desk operation, and the newly combined business will be called Fondcenter.

UBS said that after the merger is completed, Fondcenter will have more than $230bn in assets under administration, “and connect approximately 340 distribution partners with more than 450 fund providers, with over 75,000 investment funds and share classes available globally.”

UBS stated:

“The employees of Fondcenter will transfer to Clearstream as part of the sale and the management team will take senior positions within the combined business, providing continuity for clients and fund providers.”

The deal includes a “long-term” contract for Clearstream to support UBS’s asset management and wealth management units, and part of its banking business.

The companies said the deal is expected to close “in the second half of 2020.”

Clearstream is the Kirchberg-based post-trade services provider owned by the German marketplace operator Deutsche Börse. Last year Clearstream employed 1,080 staff in Luxembourg, per Statec.

UBS is Switzerland’s largest bank by assets under management, per Global Finance.

Clearstream and UBS announced the transaction on 21 January.