Julius Baer to Acquire Merrill Lynch's International Wealth Management outside the United States from Bank of America

Julius Baer Group Ltd., the leading Swiss private banking group, has agreed to acquire Merrill Lynch's International Wealth Management business based outside the US with USD 84 billion assets under management (AuM) as of June 30, 2012 and over 2,000 employees. The transaction is a combination of legal entity acquisitions and business transfers. The transaction is expected to be funded by a combination of existing excess capital, the issuance of new hybrid instruments and new share capital, of which USD 250 million is to be issued to Bank of America. Principal closing following major regulatory approvals and other closing conditions is expected towards the end of 2012 or early 2013. Business transfers and full integration are expected to occur over a two-year period thereafter.

Lenz & Staehelin advises Julius Baer in this transaction on all Swiss law matters. The team includes Rudolf Tschäni, Tino Gaberthüel, Matthias Wolf, Urs Reinwald, Damian Fischer and Phelan Brüderlin (Corporate, M&A), Patrick Schleiffer, Dominik Kaczmarczyk and Anna Tomaschek (Capital Markets), Stefan Breitenstein, Alexander Greter and Alex Enzler (Regulatory), Astrid Waser and Michael Cabalzar (Competition), Heini Rüdisühli and Stefan Schwaller (Tax) as well as Katrin Stefanicki (Employment).