Services
Strategic Advisory
Based on almost three decades of experience working for and with leading financial services companies as well as being close to most key market participants we have a clear view on what strategies work, which ones do not and why - to help create or refine your strategic plan with the goal to grow and improve profitability in conjunction with limited financial risk.
Our Story Unveiled
Who We Are
Ascensio Partners AG is a leading Zurich based investment banking boutique specializing in Corporate Finance services to financial institutions across DACH, Liechtenstein, UK, and European markets.
We trained with leading global investment banks, including Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank, Credit Suisse Investment Bank and leading boutiques, thereby acquiring excellent Investment Banking know-how, including gaining in-depth experience with M&A Advisory as well as Debt - and Equity Capital Markets projects, including IPOs. We also worked for big 4 companies, such as Deloitte and EY, where we were able to continue building experience with M&A, private capital raising projects as well as gaining exposure to large scale transformation projects, integrations & separations, restructurings, value creation projects, valuations & fairness opinions as well as multiple times functioning as finance expert witnesses in court, supporting either one of the dispute parties or the judges themselves.
Over the past almost 30 years, the team has been exclusively focused on providing its services to financial services companies. As a result we gained proprietary and in-depth know-how of the banking, wealth & asset management and insurance sectors - including fintechs.
As a result, clients engage us for our market leading Corporate Finance expertise in conjunction with the most in-depth knowledge of the DACH, Liechtenstein, UK and European financial services industries, our extensive contact and relationship network, our proprietary track record of managing landmark transactions, the highest success rate of getting even the most complex deals done and for creating maximum value for our clients.
Through our unique skill set we pave the way for our clients' growth and success.
Our Clients & Landmark Transactions
Our clients are different types of financial institutions - private, retail and commercial banks, private wealth managers, institutional asset managers, insurance companies, broker dealers, fintechs, etc.
Our team in the past has worked with most leading financial services players in DACH, Liechtenstein, the UK and Europe - such as UBS, Credit Suisse, Julius Bär, Safra Sarasin, LGT, LLB, ZKB, BCV, Zurich, Helvetia, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, Volksbank Austria, Barclays, HSBC, Schroders, AXA, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Unicredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Santander, BBVA, Nordea, ING, van Lanschot, Fortis, RBC, Mubadala, First International Bank of Israel, etc, but also a very long list of smaller players.
Clients chose us, the market leading team, over our competitors (investment banks, big 4 companies and other boutiques), because of our leading technical know-how, our proprietary industry insights, our extensive contact and relationship network, our unique track-record of creating value and having successfully managed more landmark transactions than anyone else.
A few examples of such deals which the team advised on are listed below:
Most successful market entry
Advised LGT on its UK market entry via initially acquiring Vestra, by supporting its organic growth ambitions for several years, followed by a recent add-on acquisition of Abrdn Capital, Abrdn's wealth business, to support the nationwide expansion into key regions. Today LGT manages over £30 billion in the UK market making it the 8th largest in terms of AuM and one of the most rapidly growing players in the market
Largest back-to-back private banking transaction
Advised first BTG Pactual on the acquisition of BSI, then only a few months after closing, EFG International on the acquisition of the same BSI, the financing of the transaction and supported the subsequent integration/asset transfer from BSI to EFG.
Largest Swiss independent private wealth management deal to date
Advised 1875 on its sale to Reyl/Intesa Sanpaolo. For management remaining independent was key and we insured this via the transaction structure.To this day 1875 is still operating almost exactly as it was before the transaction.
Largest swap in financial services history
Advised Zurich on the sale of Scudder, the leading fixed income asset manager with $350 billion AuM, in exchange for the insurance businesses of Deutsche Bank, Versicherungsholding Deutsche Bank, Deutscher Herold and Bonfinanz, plus CHF 4 billion in cash.
Fastest sale of a Swiss private bank
Advised Espirito Santo on its fire sale to CBH Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique via an auction process, where we as usual produced a teaser, an info memo, solicited non-binding offers, organised due diligence for the potential buyers, negotiated the deal terms, instructed the lawyers regarding contract drafting and signed the deal - all within a record time of 7 days only. We even managed to get a good market price for the business.
First deal of a private wealth consolidator in Switzerland
Advised Quaestor Coach on its acquisition of Diem Client Partner and subsequently the add-on acquisition of Investarit, which was successfully integrated into DCP.
Most piecemeal sale
Advised Mubadala on the sale of Falcon Private Bank, selling the group in four pieces - the UK to Dolphin, Luxembourg to Alpina Capital, Switzerland and the Middle East to One Swiss Bank and IFS to its management.
Largest emerging markets impact asset management deal
Advised Blue Orchard and its shareholders on the sale to Schroders via a truly global marketing process.
Largest Liechtenstein market exit
Advised Volksbank Austria on its Liechtenstein market exit via the sale of Volksbank Liechtenstein to Sigma.
