Dutch bank sells Barings arm
Dutch bank ING today said it was giving up the right to trade any of its businesses as Barings – nine years after it salvaged the UK’s oldest merchant bank from insolvency.
ING said it was selling Baring Asset Management (BAM) to US-based investment houses
MassMutual Financial Group and Northern Trust Corp for €370m (€526.4m).
The move will not see the name of Barings disappear from the City as MassMutual has pledged to run the business independently and under the same leadership.
Barings, which was founded in 1762, was crippled by the “rogue trader” scandal that saw Singapore-based trader Nick Leeson rack up losses of $1.4bn (€1.1bn) in 1995.
It was acquired in 1995 by ING for a nominal £1 (€1.40) and is credited by the Dutch bank with giving it “a well-known name around the world practically overnight”.
Most of Barings’ business was generated through investment banking and this division was absorbed by ING in 1997.
In August, the Dutch bank agreed to a management buyout of Baring Private Equity Partners, which continues to trade under the Barings name from its base at London’s Cavendish Square.
Today’s deal will see MassMutual acquiring the investment management activities of BAM.
These include about €26bn in assets under management and 600 staff will join the new owners.
Northern Trust, based in Chicago, will purchase BAM’s Financial Services Group, which offers fund administration, custody and trust services.
This division has 770 staff and operates from offices in Dublin, London, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey.
The sale of BAM will generate a gain of €250m for ING.
