Information unaudited Information ungeprüftCompany acquisitions
On 1 July 2024, Liechtensteinische Landesbank Aktiengesellschaft (LLB AG) signed a purchase agreement to acquire 100 per cent of the shares of the Zürcher Kantonalbank Österreich AG (ZKB Österreich) with registered office in Vienna. The acquisition took place on 9 January 2025 within the scope of a share deal with the former sole owner, Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB). ZKB Österreich with business locations in Vienna and Salzburg employs around 120 persons. It has a strong market position in private banking business as well as acknowledged competence in asset management. The client groups of ZKB Österreich consist primarily of wealthy Austrian and German private clients.
The acquisition of ZKB Österreich, which has client assets under management of around EUR 3.4 billion (approximately CHF 3.2 billion) enables the LLB Group to further strengthen its leading market position in Austria as its third largest domestic market. With its strong positioning in private banking and its excellent reputation, ZKB Österreich represents an ideal strategic expansion in the activities of Liechtensteinische Landesbank (Österreich) AG (LLB Österreich). The product and services portfolio and the investment advisory philosophy of ZKB Österreich are compatible with the strategic orientation of LLB Österreich and form complementary elements to its existing service offer. ZKB Österreich will contribute to the targeted expansion and further development of Salzburg as a business location, therefore providing LLB Österreich with a robust business presence in the two most important wealth management locations in Austria.
The acquisition takes place on 9 January 2025 and ownership of ZKB Österreich will be transferred from ZKB to LLB AG. The legal merger of ZKB Österreich with LLB Österreich is planned for the second half of 2025.
Acquired net assets | in EUR millions |
Assets | |
Cash and balances with central banks | 354.2 |
Due from banks | 41.1 |
Loans | 103.7 |
Intangible assets | 19.1 |
Other assets | 9.4 |
Acquired assets | 527.4 |
Liabilities | |
Due to customers | 448.1 |
Other liabilities | 14.4 |
Assumed liabilities | 462.5 |
Acquired net assets | 64.9 |
Total purchase price | 110.9 |
Goodwill | 46.0 |
Cash inflow from acquisition | 243.3 |
The purchase price for ZKB Österreich as per 9 January 2025 amounts to CHF 104.2 million and is paid in cash.
The valuation of assets and liabilities has not yet been completed. It is based on preliminary information and appraisals and is therefore reported provisionally.
The individual factors that make up the recognised goodwill are composed principally of the employees taken over, the existing expertise, the strengthening of Austria as LLB’s third strong domestic market and the growth associated with this, as well as the synergy effects. Significant synergy effects are expected from the merging of the business activities of LLB Österreich and ZKB Österreich.
Valuation methods, input factors for the measurement of intangible assets and sensitivity of the input factors
Client relationships were identified as the only intangible asset and, using the multi-period excess earnings method, were measured with the income approach. The sensitive input factors with this valuation are the planned cash flow, the loss rate with existing clients and the discount rate.
The balance sheet position “Intangible assets” contains the calculated fair value of the client relationships amounting to around CHF 19.1 million.