Aggressive acquisitions .281990.E2.80.931998.29 Swiss Bank Corporation

the former swiss bank tower off of fifth avenue in new york city opened in 1990.

swiss bank began 1990s weakest of big 3 swiss banks end of 1997 driving force behind merger union bank of switzerland. sbc had been impacted losses on real estate investments , series of minor controversies, despite bank s historically conservative posture. beginning in 1980s, sbc along swiss peers began embrace more aggressive strategy keep competitors in us, japan, germany , uk. bank signaled new posture in 1990 when opened new headquarters, swiss bank tower, 29 floor building on 49th street, adjoining saks fifth avenue.

sbc shifted focus traditional commercial banking toward investment banking emphasis on building trading operations. bolster trading initiative, in 1992, sbc acquired o connor & associates, chicago-based options trading firm, expertise in financial derivatives. o connor founded in 1977 mathematician michael greenbaum , named edmund (ed) , williams (bill) o connor. o connor brothers had made fortune trading grain on chicago board of trade , founded first options, clearing house business. o connors provided greenbaum, had run risk management first options, capital start own firm. sbc had established strategic relationship o connor, largest market maker in financial options exchanges in us, beginning in 1988. o connor had been looking partner larger financial institution , in 1989 entered currency joint venture sbc proved first step towards sale of o connor sbc. following merger, o connor combined sbc s money market, capital market , currency market activities form globally integrated capital markets , treasury operation. number of o connor executives brought key positions within bank in attempt cultivate more entrepreneurial culture @ sbc.

sbc acquired gary p. brinson s brinson partners in 1994 bolster bank s asset management business.

in 1994, sbc followed acquisition of o connor acquiring brinson partners asset management firm focused on providing access institutions global markets. founded gary p. brinson, innovator in financial management, brinson partners had emerged 1 of largest managers of pension plans , managed series of mutual funds. brinson pioneer in development of theory of asset allocation had largely become conventional wisdom among money managers in 1980s , 1990s. brinson had begun working @ first chicago corporation in 1970s , 1981 began building business become brinson partners. in 1989, brinson led us$100 million management buyout of firm first chicago corporation , on next 5 years built firm approximately us$36 billion of assets under management. sbc paid us$750 million acquire brinson partners, resulted in profit brinson , partners of us$460 million on sale of 75% stake in company. following acquisition of brinson partners, gary brinson ran sbc s asset management business , after merger ubs, brinson named chief investment officer of ubs global asset management.

sbc s next made major push investment banking acquisition of s.g. warburg & co. leading british investment banking firm in 1995 us$1.4 billion. s.g. warburg founded siegmund warburg, member of warburg banking family. after world war ii, s.g. warburg established reputation daring merchant bank grew 1 of respected investment banks in london. following flawed , costly expansion us, in 1994 merger announced morgan stanley, talks collapsed. following year s.g. warburg purchased swiss bank corporation,. bank merged s.g. warburg own existing investment banking unit create sbc warburg, became leading player in global investment banking.

two years later, in 1997, sbc paid us$600 million acquire dillon, read & co., white shoe investment banking firm considered member of bulge bracket. dillon, read, traced roots 1830s among powerhouse firms on wall street in 1920s , 1930s , 1990s had particularly strong mergers , acquisitions advisory group. dillon read had been in negotiations sell ing owned 25% of firm already, dillon read partners balked @ ing s integration plans. after acquisition sbc, dillon read merged sbc-warburg create sbc-warburg dillon read. dillon read name discontinued after merger union bank of switzerland although brought in 2005 dillon read capital management, ubs s ill-fated hedge fund operations.