ABN AMRO acquires German private bank Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe

By Gloria Methri

ABN AMRO has reached an agreement with Fosun International to acquire the German private bank Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe (HAL).

With the acquisition of HAL, Bethmann Bank – ABN AMRO’s private banking arm in Germany – will become one of the largest providers of banking services for wealthy private clients, family businesses and institutional clients in Germany.

HAL’s subsidiaries that provide AIFM/Manco and Fund Administration services will not be part of the acquisition. These entities and HAL have closed a cooperation agreement to continue offering a successful One-Stop-Shop service in the market.

Robert Swaak, CEO of ABN AMRO, said, “This is a rare opportunity to add scale to our German activities. We are delighted to have reached this agreement. HAL is a long-standing leader in wealth management and has a very strong fit with ABN AMRO, both culturally and geographically. We share the desire to deliver the best individual solutions to our clients. The proposed acquisition will further strengthen our position and offer employees of the combined group the opportunity to play a driving role in the consolidating German market. I look forward to working with the HAL team in realising our shared ambition.”

Choy van der Hooft-Cheong, Chief Commercial Officer of Wealth Management at ABN AMRO, said, “I am very pleased with the acquisition of HAL and look forward to meeting our new colleagues soon. This acquisition will enable us to expand and improve our current product and service offering to both individual and business clients in the important German private banking market.”

Michael Bentlage, CEO of HAL, also commented on the transaction, “I would like to pay tribute to our talented teams, whose efforts have greatly supported the bank’s fantastic development in the last 10 years. The proposed combination with ABN AMRO Germany will strengthen the bank’s position in the market and give the combined bank more opportunities for growth through even broader products and services to our clients.”