Completion of the merger of Bank Degroof Petercam
Thursday, October 1, 2015 —
Approval of the merger of Bank Degroof and Petercam by the authorities.
Endorsement of the merger by shareholders’ meetings of Petercam and Bank Degroof.
Management and governing bodies in place.
Start of the integration of the offering and services.
Facts & figures:
- 1 400 people
- 50 billion euro assets under management
- Presence in 9 countries
- Large majority of the capital in hands of family and reference shareholders
Bank Degroof Petercam officially active on the Belgian market
Following the approval of the merger of Bank Degroof and Petercam by the authorities, the respective shareholders’ meetings of Petercam nv/sa and Bank Degroof nv/sa validated the operation On 1 October 2015.
The shareholders of Petercam approved the transfer of the assets and liabilities of Petercam to Bank Degroof Petercam and the dissolution of the mother company Petercam nv/sa.
As for Bank Degroof, the shareholders’ meeting validated the absorption of the activities of Petercam, the name change into Bank Degroof Petercam and the new by-laws and appointed the new members of the Board.
The Petercam and Bank Degroof subsidiaries (the asset management companies and the Luxembourg subsidiaries) are set to merge and integrate later on.
Leading independent financial institution
Headquartered in Brussels, Bank Degroof Petercam employs 1 400 professionals through offices in Belgium, Luxemburg, France, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Hong Kong. With assets under management of over 50 billion euro, Bank Degroof Petercam is the first independent group in Belgium offering a unique combination of private banking, institutional asset management, investment banking (corporate finance and financial intermediation) and asset services.
Philippe Masset, CEO Bank Degroof Petercam: “Today, we finalize a tremendous journey that started with the signature of our letter of intent in January. In less than 10 months, our teams managed to complete the due diligence, the merger agreement, the approval process by the authorities as well as the integration of our people. I would like to thank them all for the remarkable work and look forward to build our new group based on our independent, long term and human culture.”
Xavier Van Campenhout, deputy CEO Bank Degroof Petercam: “This also marks the beginning of an exciting journey. We can now officially start integrating our offering at the service of our clients. They will benefit from in-depth yet more diversified expertise in our four core activities. Our family-rooted foundation thereby guarantees our independence, stable and sustainable services, as well as open mind towards the future.”
Solid group with family rooted shareholders
Alain Philippson, chairman of the Board of directors of Bank Degroof Petercam: “Our clients and people can rely on the long-term commitment of the family and reference shareholders. We ensure the independence of our beautiful group that starts a new chapter in its history, and we continue to invest in its development.”
As of October 2015, the capital ratio of 15% (Basel III) far exceeds sectoral requirements. The shareholdership is composed as follows: ca 70 % in hands of the families and reference shareholders (Families Philippson, Peterbroeck, Van Campenhout, Haegelsteen, Schockert, Siaens and CLdN Finance and Cobepa). The balance is held by the management and staff, the financial partners and other shareholders.
Management and governing bodies*
The first Board of directors chaired by Alain Philippson on 1 October 2015 will validate the composition of the managing and governing bodies. The group management is organized as follows:
Group Executive Committee (GEC)
The GEC bears ultimate responsibility before the Board of Directors for all the group’s activities. It is composed as follows:
Philippe Masset (CEO), Xavier Van Campenhout (Deputy CEO and Private Banking), Nathalie Basyn (CFO), Gautier Bataille (Capital Markets), Bruno Colmant (Macro Research/senior advisor – as of 15 October 2015), Gilles Firmin (CRO), Jan Longeval (Institutional Asset Management), Pascal Nyckees (COO).
Group Management Committee (GMC) and International Network Committee (INC)
The GMC is the main day-to-day management body of the group responsible for the development of the group’s activities under the responsibility of the GEC. It is composed of the members of the GEC, as well as of: Benoît Daenen (Private Banking), Hugo Lasat (Institutional Asset Management), Alexis Meeùs (Corporate Finance), Pierre Pepersack (Credit), Jean-Marc Verbist (HR), Erik Verkest (Corporate Finance), Jean-Louis Waucquez (Estate Planning).
The GMC will closely work with the INC that gathers the CEOs from the different foreign subsidiary banks and is composed of: Geert De Bruyne (Luxembourg), François Wohrer (France), Guillermo Viladomíu (Spain), Cédric Roland-Gosselin (Switzerland).
Board of directors
Next to the members of the GEC, the Board is composed of following non-executive directors:
Alain Philippson (chairman), Ludwig Criel (independent director), Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, Miguel del Marmol, Christian Jacobs (independent director), Jean-Marie Laurent Josi, Véronique Peterbroeck, Jacques-Martin Philippson, Alain Schockert, Frank van Bellingen.
* Subject to the approval of the supervisory authorities