Latest news with #Lacher
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Business Standard
7 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Worldline turmoil hands Swiss bourse a $300 mn blow on strategic stake
Romeo Lacher was full of ideas when he sold the payment services division of Switzerland's stock exchange SIX Group AG to French firm Worldline SA in 2018. The 2.75 billion Swiss franc ($3.5 billion) deal gave SIX a 27 per cent stake in Worldline and would provide SIX with an 'extreme' amount of firepower to participate in Europe's consolidating market infrastructure sector, Lacher, then chairman of SIX, said at the time. He later held the same position at Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Group Ltd., before exiting earlier this year. Worldline has denied the allegations and its chief executive officer has decried the media reports, calling them outdated and part of an orchestrated media campaign against the firm. The bourse's current stake of roughly 10 per cent in Worldline was valued in its accounts at just under €400 million ($467 million) at the end of 2024. That was already at a premium to its €250 million market value, which has fallen further this year to around €110 million. SIX is now reviewing potential actions for the shareholding, according to people familiar with the matter, including carrying out a test to determine if further impairment is required. The wait-and-see approach is not an option anymore, said one of the people, who all asked not to be identified discussing private information. SIX already booked an impairment on its Worldline stake of around 860 million Swiss francs for the fourth quarter of 2023 linked to a cut to the company's outlook and the scrapping of its revenue target. The exchange also adjusted its 2024 net profit to account for another 168 million Swiss francs impairment on the stake. SIX's largest shareholder is UBS Group AG, with a roughly 35 per cent stake. Representatives for UBS, Worldline and SIX declined to comment. Lacher didn't respond to a request for comment. 'Strategic' holding Daniel Schmucki, SIX's chief financial officer and a former aviation industry executive, has sat on Worldline's board for the past five years, a period in which the exchange has repeatedly described its holding in Worldline as 'strategic.' Worldline shares dropped 38 per cent on June 25 after media outlets published reports that the firm had ignored warnings from regulators and continued doing business with risky clients with high fraud rates, including pornographers and dating websites. The repeated impairments put the bourse at a disadvantage to peers in an industry that has been using major acquisitions to grow and consolidate and is searching for new revenue streams coming from data and private markets. It's a far cry from 2020, when SIX sold a chunk of its original 27 per cent stake in Worldline to finance the acquisition of the operator of Spain's stock exchange. But since then, SIX has turned down opportunities to reduce its remaining Worldline stake, the people said. Worldline has hired an external firm to go through its portfolio of risky clients as the payments firm seeks to restore trust, Chairman Wilfried Verstraete told the newspaper Les Echos. SIX is set to publish second-quarter earnings at the end of July.
Mint
7 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Worldline Turmoil Hands Swiss Bourse a $300 Million Headache
(Bloomberg) -- Romeo Lacher was full of ideas when he sold the payment services division of Switzerland's stock exchange SIX Group AG to French firm Worldline SA in 2018. The 2.75 billion Swiss franc ($3.5 billion) deal gave SIX a 27% stake in Worldline and would provide SIX with an 'extreme' amount of firepower to participate in Europe's consolidating market infrastructure sector, Lacher, then chairman of SIX, said at the time. He later held the same position at Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Group Ltd., before exiting earlier this year. Seven years later, SIX's remaining Worldline stake has turned into a millstone around the bourse's neck, trading more than 90% lower than at the time of the tie-up. The exchange is now likely facing a third writedown in as many years following the recent collapse in Worldline's share price as a result of fraud allegations in various European publications last month. Worldline has denied the allegations and its chief executive officer has decried the media reports, calling them outdated and part of an orchestrated media campaign against the firm. The bourse's current stake of roughly 10% in Worldline was valued in its accounts at just under €400 million ($467 million) at the end of 2024. That was already at a premium to its €250 million market value, which has fallen further this year to around €110 million. SIX is now reviewing potential actions for the shareholding, according to people familiar with the matter, including carrying out a test to determine if further impairment is required. The wait-and-see approach is not an option anymore, said one of the people, who all asked not to be identified discussing private information. SIX already booked an impairment on its Worldline stake of around 860 million Swiss francs for the fourth quarter of 2023 linked to a cut to the company's outlook and the scrapping of its revenue target. The exchange also adjusted its 2024 net profit to account for another 168 million Swiss francs impairment on the stake. SIX's largest shareholder is UBS Group AG, with a roughly 35% stake. Representatives for UBS, Worldline and SIX declined to comment. Lacher didn't respond to a request for comment. Daniel Schmucki, SIX's chief financial officer and a former aviation industry executive, has sat on Worldline's board for the past five years, a period in which the exchange has repeatedly described its holding in Worldline as 'strategic.' Worldline shares dropped 38% on June 25 after media outlets published reports that the firm had ignored warnings from regulators and continued doing business with risky clients with high fraud rates, including pornographers and dating websites. The repeated impairments put the bourse at a disadvantage to peers in an industry that has been using major acquisitions to grow and consolidate and is searching for new revenue streams coming from data and private markets. It's a far cry from 2020, when SIX sold a chunk of its original 27% stake in Worldline to finance the acquisition of the operator of Spain's stock exchange. But since then, SIX has turned down opportunities to reduce its remaining Worldline stake, the people said. Read: Swiss Bourse Loses $1.1 Billion After Investment Impairments Worldline has hired an external firm to go through its portfolio of risky clients as the payments firm seeks to restore trust, Chairman Wilfried Verstraete told the newspaper Les Echos. SIX is set to publish second-quarter earnings at the end of July. --With assistance from Sam Nagarajan. More stories like this are available on
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Visionaries Club Co-Founder Lacher at Founders Forum
Visionaries Club Co-Founder Robert Lacher says artificial intelligence and defense are the most interesting sectors for venture capitalists in Europe. Speaking on the sidelines of the Founders Forum in Oxfordshire, Lacher said "the geopolitical shift, as bad as it is, is the best thing that could have happened" to European tech. Lacher spoke to Bloomberg TV on June 12.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Julius Baer chairman to leave as Signa reckoning widens
ZURICH (Reuters) -The chairman of Julius Baer, Romeo Lacher, is to step down, the Swiss bank said on Monday, as it continues a management shake-up that began a year ago after it suffered major losses from exposure to collapsed property group Signa. In a statement, Baer said that Lacher would not stand for re-election at its annual general meeting on April 10 and that his proposed successor would be nominated in March. Lacher informed the board of his decision in 2024, the bank said. The news of Lacher's departure comes after new CEO Stefan Bollinger began work at the Zurich-based wealth manager on Jan. 9, almost a year after it announced the departure of the previous chief executive, Philipp Rickenbacher. Rickenbacher's exit occurred after the bank reported 586 million Swiss francs ($646 million) of losses on loans to Signa, the property firm of fallen Austrian tycoon Rene Benko. Bringing the Lacher era to a close would cement the break with the past, analysts said. "Lacher still belongs to the old guard, who are responsible for the strategic mistakes that ultimately led to the (Benko) fiasco," said Daniel Bosshard from Luzerner Kantonalbank. "Julius Baer promised a fresh start after the Signa story and this is now the consequence," Bank Vontobel analyst Andreas Venditti said. In a statement, Lacher said: "With Stefan Bollinger starting as CEO, Julius Baer is opening a new chapter. It is a good moment for this transition at board level." "As the leading pure-play wealth manager worldwide, Julius Baer is strongly positioned for future success," he added. Separately, the Swiss National Bank said Lacher would step down from the SNB's bank council on April 25. ($1 = 0.9070 Swiss francs)
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Julius Baer chairman Romeo Lacher to step down
(Reuters) - The chairman of Julius Baer, Romeo Lacher, is to step down, the Swiss bank said on Monday as it continued a shake-up of management that began a year ago after it suffered major losses from exposure to collapsed property group Signa. In a statement, Baer said that Lacher will not stand for re-election at its annual general meeting on April 10 and that his proposed successor will be nominated in March. Lacher informed the board of his decision in 2024, the bank said. The news of Lacher's exit comes after new CEO Stefan Bollinger began work at the Zurich-based wealth manager on Jan. 9, almost a year after it had announced the departure of the previous chief executive, Philipp Rickenbacher. Rickenbacher's exit occurred after the bank reported losses of 586 million Swiss francs ($646 million) on loans to Signa, the property firm run by fallen Austrian tycoon Rene Benko. In a statement, Lacher said: "With Stefan Bollinger starting as CEO, Julius Baer is opening a new chapter. It is a good moment for this transition at board level." "As the leading pure-play wealth manager worldwide, Julius Baer is strongly positioned for future success," he added. ($1 = 0.9070 Swiss francs) Sign in to access your portfolio
