In a press release published on 26 October, VP Bank wrote that the transaction takes the form of an asset deal involving 10 employees and client assets worth CHF 900m. Furthermore, the group will enter a distribution partnership with the Catella Group in the fund and real estate sector.

The purchase does not include the private banking business of Catella Bank in Sweden.

“The former private banking customers of Catella Bank S.A., which are almost exclusively European clients, will continue to be looked after by their trusted personal advisor in Luxembourg and at the same time benefit from the strengths of the international VP Bank Group,” the bank posted on its site.

The transaction is expected to be completed by 1 February 2019.

Catella, which employs 600 people, is active in property investments and advisory, fund management and banking with a presence in 14 countries. The group manages assets of around €20billion.

VP Bank (Luxembourg) was founded in 1988 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Liechtenstein-based VP Bank Group. It employs around 130 people to work on asset management and investment advisory for private investors and institutional custody banking and brokerage services for financial intermediaries.

In July this year, Bloomberg reported that VP Bank had set aside $400m for acquisitions in Asia, Luxembourg or Switzerland.