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Overseas bank looks to U.S.
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May 15, 1997: 7:11 a.m. ET
Swiss-British SBC Warburg in talks to acquire Wall Street's Dillon Read
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Swiss-British investment bank SBC Warburg is reportedly set to announce it has reached a deal to buy Dillon, Read & Co. for about $600 million.
The agreement to acquire the Wall Street investment bank would ace out Dutch-British bank ING Barings, which had also been negotiating for a deal with Dillon Read, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Spokespeople for both SBC Warburg, which is a unit of Swiss Bank Corp., and Dillon Read declined to comment on the negotiations.
The price tag of $600 million reported by the Journal would represent three times the book value of Dillon Read. As part of the deal, Dillon Read is expected to buy back the 25 percent stake currently held by ING Barings.
Dillon Read has a stable of blue-chip corporate clients in the United States such as Rockwell International Corp. and Kimberly-Clark Corp. SBC Warburg is also known as a high-status banker in London.
The acquisition is the latest in a series of attempts by U.S. and overseas banks to get a piece of the U.S. securities business. PNC Bank Corp. recently held talks to buy Oppenheimer & Co. Many investment bankers believe that investment banks require a position in the United States in order to become a global competitor.
SBC Warburg has been looking for years to gain a presence in the U.S. Dillon Read is a strong player in corporate finance, ranking 17th in terms of mergers and acquisitions last year. SBC Warburg ranked 29th.
Dillon Read has $179 million in equity capital and was ranked 46th in total capital last year.
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SBC Warburg
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