Artio raises $650m as Julius Baer unit floats in New York
ARTIO Global Investors, the US asset management arm of Swiss private bank Julius Baer, listed on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, gaining nearly seven per cent on its offering price.
The asset manager’s stock opened at $27.30 per share, up from the initial public offering (IPO) price of $26 and rose to $27.74 during early trading.
Artio raised $650m (£405m) with the listing of 25m shares, more than was expected, by selling 1.6m extra shares in an offering for which Goldman Sachs ran the book.
The firm will use the money to repurchase 22.6m shares from its parent, more than halving Julius Baer’s stake.
Baer said its private banking unit would garner $300m of the proceeds from the IPO, with the remainder to strengthen the buying power of hedge fund arm GAM, which is also set to be listed separately.
If the IPO’s managers, led by Goldman Sachs, exercise their option to buy another 3.75m shares, the IPO could yield $747.5m and become the third-largest US listing this year.
The flotation completed Julius Baer’s plan to split its private banking and asset management operations, following a difficult period for Artio during the financial crisis.
Artio’s assets under management slid 36 per cent to $46.8bn between the end of June 2008 and the end of June 2009 and the company saw net income plummet some 73 per cent to $8.4m, compared to the first six months of 2008.
Meanwhile, Julius Baer has dropped out of the race to buy private banking units from ING, which it is selling as it bids to pay back state aid.