Jason Alden/Bloomberg NewsJacob Rothschild, chairman of the investment trust RIT Capital Partners.
LONDON – Two of the world’s best-known banking families are combining forces after RIT Capital Partners, the investment trust chaired by Jacob Rothschild, said on Wednesday that it was buying a minority stake in the investment and wealth management firm Rockefeller Financial Services.
Under the terms of the deal, RIT Capital will buy a 37 percent stake in Rockefeller Financial Services, which was founded in 1882 and currently has around $34 billion in client assets under administration.
The fee was not disclosed, and RIT Capital said it would acquire the stake in the American firm from Société Générale Private Banking of France.
RIT Capital and Rockefeller Financial Services said they would collaborate on investment opportunities and other areas of shared expertise. The transaction will also give RIT Capital, which is based in London, a presence in the United States.
“We are delighted at the prospect of bringing together these two entities in a long-term partnership,” Mr. Rothschild, chairman of RIT Capital, said in a statement. “The creation of this partnership with the Rockefeller family is truly historic.”
Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CorbisJohn D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil and went on to create one of the century’s great fortunes.
Jonathan Player for The New York TimesA portrait of Nathan Meyer Rothschild, who helped finance Britain’s victory at Waterloo.
The deal between the two well-known banking families comes after RIT Capital, whose assets total £1.9 billion, or $3 billion, announced a partnership in March with the Edmond de Rothschild Group, an international private banking and asset management group chaired by Benjamin de Rothschild.
The Rothschilds, whose banking dynasty dates back to the 18th century and now operates across a number of European countries, also are currently consolidating their French and British operations.
In a deal announced on April 5, Paris Orléans, the Rothschild Group’s holding company, said it was buying minority stakes in its subsidiaries, including N.M. Rothschild Sons, the investment bank based in London, and the group’s French asset management business.
The deal to buy a minority stake in Rockefeller Financial Services is expected to close by the end of September.
Article source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/rockefeller-and-rothschild-banking-dynasties-join-forces/?partner=rss&emc=rss