Reuters is reporting that Copenhagen based Retail FX and CFDs broker Saxo Bank has invited investment banks to pitch for a role in helping to sell the company.
It is expected that a sale process will begin later this year, depending on overall market (and company) conditions.
Reuters quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that a sale could value Saxo Bank at about €1.5 to €2 billion (USD $1.6 billion to $2.1 billion), although that figure is estimated and of course preliminary.
The discussions at this stage range between pursuing an outright sale of the company, to the sale of a minority stake in Saxo Bank with a later avenue to provide liquidity to the company’s existing shareholders.
Saxo Bank’s main shareholders are Chinese conglomerate Geely Group (known increasingly for its electric cars) which holds just under 50% of Saxo (49.88%), CEO Kim Fournais via his Fournais Holding company (28.09%), and Finnish insurance group Sampo (19.83%), which is in process of transferring its stake to its Mandatum unit.
Saxo Bank attempted to go public in 2022 via a merger with a Euronext Amsterdam listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The deal, which would have valued Saxo Bank at about €2 billion, would have provided liquidity to Geely and Sampo which at the time both voiced their desire to exit their respective Saxo Bank investments. However the transaction was pulled later that year.
While Saxo Bank has been a longtime leader and is often viewed as the “Steady Eddy” of the FX and CFDs sector, the company’s performance has dropped off of late with Saxo Bank posting its first semi-annual loss in several years during 2H-2023, with no growth on its top line. Last month Saxo Bank saw a multi-year low in its core FX trading volumes.
We will continue to follow this story as it develops.
