Close International Private Banking, IFG Make Acquisitions In Jersey

Robert Lee, Tax-news.com, London

29 November 2000

Close International Private Banking, the Guernsey-based private bank which came into being following the August 1999 acquisition of Rea Brothers Group by Close Brothers Group, the independent merchant bank, said last week that it had aquired the private client trust administration business of Cater Allen Trust Company (Jersey) for an undisclosed sum.

Close International is part of Close Investments, the fund management arm of Close Brothers Group. The acquired operations, which will continue to be run by current managing director Tim Scott Warren, will increase Close's Channel Islands trust division by more than 40 people from its current 120.

Chris Fish, managing director of Close International Private Banking in Guernsey, said of the deal: 'This acquisition ... demonstrates the appetite for expansion internationally of the Close Group.'

In a separate deal, Irish financial services group IFG has paid up to UK£7m for trust company Atlantique Trust, which provides asset protection and trustee services for customers across Europe. Atlantique has offices in Jersey and Geneva, and IFG says it will complement its existing international businesses in the US and the Far East. It has paid an initial £2m for the purchase, though there is an earnout of a further £5m if profit targets are met over the next three years.

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