Swiss firm and Bloxham may bid for AIB Investment

SWISS asset-management company Bellevue is believed to be mounting a joint bid with Bloxham Stockbrokers for AIB Investment Managers.

Details of Bloxham’s partner in the takeover bid emerged as the sale of AIB’s investment arm gathered pace. It is believed that the process will reach preferred bidder status by the end of the month, with a sale announced by the end of March.

Three would-be buyers are understood to be part of the bidding process – Irish Life Permanent, Dermot Desmond’s International Investment and Underwriting (IIU) and the Bloxham/Bellevue partnership. The sale is being managed by Goodbody stockbrokers, which has recently been sold by AIB to Fexco.

Bellevue is domiciled in Zurich and listed on the Swiss stock exchange. Its asset management division has a focus on healthcare and pharmaceutical investments. The company acquired 10 per cent of US broker Auerbach Grayson in February last year.

AIB Investment Managers, which manages the bank’s pension fund, is a division of AIB Capital Markets. Headquartered in Dublin, it also has a base in New York. It employs approximately 100 people, a quarter of whom cover global equities.

AIB Investment Managers had just under €8 billion in assets under management at the end of September 2010.

This compares to the €26 billion of assets under the control of Bank of Ireland Asset Management, which was recently sold to State Street for €57 million.

As with Bank of Ireland, AIB is obliged by the European Commission to dispose of some of its non-core assets as part of its restructuring plan.

The 90 per cent State-owned bank announced plans on Thursday to buy back €4.1 billion of lower tier-two debt at a 70 per cent discount as part of its efforts to reduce the amount of capital it needs to raise this year.

The bank is seeking to raise €6.1 billion in funds by the end of February. The sale of the bank’s 70 per cent stake in Poland’s Bank Zachodni WBK to Santander is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.