- The Rothschild family wants to take its French investment bank private, in a deal worth about $4 billion.
- The plan comes 3 months after the death of Evelyn de Rothschild, a key player in uniting the bank's arms.
- Its shares rose 17% in Paris after its holding company laid out plans meaning a 19% premium on Friday's price.
The Rothschild family wants to take its namesake French investment bank private, offering a 19% premium on shares in a deal worth about $4 billion.
The investment and advisory company Rothschild & Co. grew out of a multinational bank that at one point in its long history helped finance England's defeat of Napoleon at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo.
Now Concordia, the family's holding company, said Monday it's planning to offer 48 euros ($51.47) a share for the about 61% of the Paris-listed stock in the firm that it doesn't own. The holding currently controls over 47% of Rothschild & Co's voting rights.
"Each of the businesses is better assessed on the basis of their long-term performance rather than short-term earnings. This makes private ownership of the Group more appropriate than a public listing," Concordia said in a statement.
"None of the businesses of the Group needs access to capital from the public equity markets," it added.
The buyout bid comes just months after the death of Evelyn de Rothschild, the former head of the banking group's UK business, in November at the age of 91. He was a key player in bringing together the UK and French branches of Rothschild's back in 2012, a merger that was seen as giving the bank a competitive edge and keeping the family in control in the long haul.
Rothschild & Co. said Monday it plans to give shareholders a 1.40 euro ordinary dividend at its annual meeting on May 25. It will also propose an exceptional dividend of 8 euros if the Concordia offer is filed, which the holding company has said it will do by the end of the first half this year.
The family's holding company Rothschild & Co.'s shares rose 16.9% to 47.05 euros after the news. Shares closed at 40.25 euros on Friday.