“UBS, Credit Suisse Acquisition Talks Accelerate... Agreement Imminent”

Switzerland's largest financial institution, UBS, is rapidly advancing negotiations to acquire Credit Suisse (CS), which is facing a crisis.

Credit Suisse Global Headquarters located in Zurich, Switzerland.
[Photo by Credit Suisse Twitter]

On the 18th (local time), major foreign media outlets reported that the outline of the acquisition terms is likely to be revealed before the securities market opens on Monday, the 20th.

US broadcaster CNN, citing local media reports, stated that the Swiss Federal Council convened a crisis management meeting to decide CS's fate, which was held at the Ministry of Finance building from 5 p.m. on Saturday the 18th (1 a.m. on the 19th Korean time).

The British daily Financial Times (FT) reported that UBS and CS are each scheduled to hold board meetings over the weekend.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing anonymous sources, predicted that an agreement on UBS's acquisition of CS could be reached on the 19th or even earlier.

The market capitalizations of UBS and CS are $65 billion (85 trillion KRW) and $8 billion (10 trillion KRW), respectively. Last year, UBS posted a net profit of $7.6 billion (9.9 trillion KRW), while CS recorded a net loss of $7.9 billion (10 trillion KRW).

UBS currently employs more than 72,000 people. As of the end of last year, CS had about 50,000 employees, of whom more than 16,000 work in Switzerland.

Foreign media analyze that if the merger is completed, approximately 10,000 jobs across both UBS and CS are expected to be cut.