UBS has announced that it is to acquire the Caisse Centrale de Réescompte group, a French asset and wealth manager with EUR17bn in invested assets and 190 employees, from Germany's

UBS has announced that it is to acquire the Caisse Centrale de Réescompte group, a French asset and wealth manager with EUR17bn in invested assets and 190 employees, from Germany's Commerzbank for EUR435m. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.

The French group comprises CCR, a provider of banking services to its subsidiaries, CCR Actions, an asset manager specialising in equity funds, CCR Gestion, an asset manager specializing in fixed income and alternative products, and CCR Chevrillon-Philippe, a provider of asset management services to private clients.

UBS has agreed to pay EUR 275m for the CCR group, as well as about EUR160m for its expected excess capital. The CCR businesses will be integrated into the asset management and wealth management operations of UBS in France.

'The combined entity further strengthens the presence of UBS in France and underlines its strong commitment to the European market,' says John Fraser, a member of the UBS executive board and chairman and chief executive of UBS Global Asset Management.

Gabriel Herrera, the head of Europe, Middle East and Africa for the Global Asset Management division, says: 'This transaction provides us with a strong domestic platform which will enable us to achieve our high growth ambitions in France.'