Interactive Brokers and private equities interested in Saxo Bank

Interactive Brokers Group and a consortium of funds composed of Altor Equity Partners and Centerbridge have shown interest in acquiring Denmark’s Saxo Bank A/S.

Interactive Brokers and private equities interested in Saxo Bank

Altor and Centerbridge have submitted a non-binding offer for the brokerage firm, Bloomberg reports. In Italy, the Nordic bank has reached an agreement with Banca Generali to create BG Saxo, a trading platform serving retail investors. A platform with $120 billion in client assets The Danish group has about $120 billion in client assets and reported last July that it had hired Goldman Sachs to look for new shareholders. Saxo’s current shareholders, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Finnish Mandatum Oyj and founder Kim Fournais, are in fact willing to sell.

China's Geely holds around 50% of Saxo

Saxo Bank was founded in 1992 and was run by co-founders Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen until 2017, who turned it into one of Europe's largest trading platforms. Seier Christensen left the bank in 2017 and sold his 25.71% stake to Geely in a deal that valued Saxo at €1.325 billion. Geely now owns almost 50% of the company. Fournais has since served as CEO, famous in Denmark for buying a small local island where he created his own luxury resort and yachting facilities. He is also known for personally piloting his private plane to meet clients. On Monday, Norway's DNB Bank ASA announced it plans to buy Swedish asset manager Carnegie Holding AB, and Altor, Carnegie's main owner, has agreed to sell its stake. Centerbridge, a private equity firm specializing in financial services, has closed some of the most significant deals in this space in Europe in 2022, acquiring Germany's Aareal Bank together with Advent International. (reproduction reserved)