(28 September 2004 – Australia) Investment bank UBS will buy a three percent stake in Babcock & Brown from Germany’s HVB Group.HVB Group currently owns a 20 percent stake in Babcock & Brown, which is completing a A$550 million initial public offering in Australia.
HVB has been asked to trim its stake in Babcock & Brown in order to free up the shares in the investment bank to other potential investors. UBS is set to gobble up some 50 percent of the 19.5 million shares that HVB will shed.
“UBS and Babcock & Brown have strong complementary businesses globally. We believe that strengthening this global relationship gives us the potential to accelerate our growth,” Babcock & Brown managing director Phil Green said.
Babcock & Brown was established in 1977 as an arranger of US leveraged leases but increasingly invests its own capital to secure and manage assets for third party clients.