By Amy-Jo Crowley and Andres Gonzalez
LONDON(Reuters) – China’s Legend Holdings is exploring options including a possible sale of its 90% stake in Banque Internationale a Luxembourg (BIL), two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Legend, which is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and partly owns Chinese computer maker Lenovo, is working with Goldman Sachs on the options for Luxembourg’s oldest private bank, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the process is private.
BIL could be valued between 2.5 billion euros and 3 billion euros ($2.71 billion to $3.25 billion) in the event of a sale, one of the two people said.
One option could be selling the bank’s retail and wealth management units separately, the person added.
Spokespeople for BIL and Goldman Sachs declined to comment, while Legend did not respond to requests for comment.
A sale would follow other recent European financial asset disposals by Chinese companies. Earlier this month China’s Geely sold its stake in Saxo Bank to Swiss private bank J Safra Sarasin, and last year Fosun sold its stake in Belgian insurer Ageas and had been planning a listing of its Portuguese insurance company Fidelidade.
Founded in 1856, BIL specialises in retail and corporate banking as well as wealth management and insurance broking and is led by Chief Executive Jeffrey Dentzer.
Legend acquired a 90% stake in the bank from Qatar’s royal family in 2017 in a deal that valued the bank at 1.48 billion euros. The remaining 10% is held by Luxembourg’s government.
Since then, BIL’s assets under management have grown 20% to 45.5 billion euros, according to its latest results as of June last year. However, net income dropped to 83 million euros in June 2024, 20% less than the previous year.
($1 = 0.9220 euros)
(Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley and Andres Gonzalez. Additional reporting Che Pan. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Susan Fenton)
