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Royal Bank of Canada to Acquire
Abacus Financial Services Group Limited
JERSEY and TORONTO, November 30, 2005 —Royal
Bank of Canada (RY: TSX and NYSE) and the shareholders of Abacus Financial
Services Group Limited (Abacus) today announced that Royal Bank of Canada
(RBC) has acquired Abacus. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The transaction has been approved by Abacus shareholders and all relevant
regulators. Both sides have begun working toward seamlessly integrating
the operations of the companies with an immediate focus on creating value
for our clients and our shareholders.
“Abacus’ talent, expertise and reputation for client service
makes this an excellent fit on strategic, cultural and economic factors,” said
Michael Lagopoulos, President and CEO, Global Private Banking, RBC. The
acquisition is expected to be virtually neutral to RBC earnings in 2006
and slightly accretive in 2007.
Abacus has offices in six locations: London, Jersey, Guernsey, Edinburgh,
Cheltenham and Amsterdam. As a result of this transaction,
assets under administration of RBC’s Global Private Banking business
has increased by US$41 billion. The deal provides RBC’s Global Private
Banking business with a greater presence in the British Isles
with a total of more than 1,200 employees. Around the world, RBC’s
Global Private Banking business has a total of 30 offices in 21 countries
with almost 2,000 employees serving the wealth management needs of international
high net worth individuals and select institutional clients.
Paul Patterson, head of Global Private Banking for RBC in the British
Isles, will oversee the integration of the combined group. Huw Bolle-Jones,
the Group Chief Executive of Abacus, will take responsibility for the merged
British Isles trust and fiduciary services of the combined private client
businesses.
RBC has had operations in the British Isles since 1910. “Our focus
in this critical market is to grow our business through the delivery of
team-based wealth management solutions, broadening relationships with our
existing clients and expanding our sales teams and client base,” Patterson
said. “As two leading organizations, Abacus and RBC will combine
their best practices, knowledge, and expertise to form an innovative and
client-oriented organization.”
Abacus was established in 1967, originally as part of the Channel Islands
firm of Coopers & Lybrand. Abacus became an independent member of Coopers & Lybrand
International in 1994 following a management buy-out by the fiduciary and
wealth management services partners. The firm became wholly independent
in 1998 following the merger between Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse.
“RBC’s acquisition of Abacus will provide Abacus clients
with access to the services and strength of a full service global financial
institution combined with a full range of wealth management solutions,
including banking, investment management, investment advisory and custody,” Bolle-Jones
said.
With the acquisition of Abacus, RBC strengthens its position in wealth
management services in the U.K. and Channel Islands, with greater
presence in continental Europe. Serving wealthy private and
institutional clients, Royal Bank of Canada provides a full range of wealth
management services, including international trust and structured solutions,
discretionary investment management and advisory services, and international
banking and credit solutions. RBC also provides global share plan administration,
employee benefit trusts, international pension plans and global
custody and fund administration services for select institutional clients
in jurisdictions where it has unique expertise.
About Royal Bank of Canada Global Private Banking
Global Private Banking is Royal Bank of Canada's international wealth
management operation, including private banking, trust services,
discretionary investment management, global custody and international
full-service brokerage. Royal Bank of Canada Global Private
Banking locations are selected for the flexibility and security they provide
our clients and for the integrity of their financial and regulatory systems.
With a network of offices in over 27 key financial centres around the world,
RBC’s
Global Private Banking provides international financial services
for private and corporate clients resident in more than 150
countries. For more information, please visit www.rbcprivatebanking.com.
About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada (TSX, NYSE: RY) uses the initials RBC as a prefix
for its businesses and operating subsidiaries, which operate
under the master brand name of RBC Financial Group. Royal Bank
of Canada is Canada's largest financial institution as measured
by market capitalization and assets, and is one of North America's leading
diversified financial services companies. It provides personal and commercial
banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment
banking, and transaction processing services on a global basis. The company
employs approximately 60,000 people who serve more than 14 million
personal, business and public sector clients through offices
in North America and some 30 countries around the world. For more information,
please visit www.rbc.com.
About Abacus
The Abacus Financial Services Group was established in the Channel Islands
in 1967 and has offices in London, Cheltenham, Edinburgh and Amsterdam
as well as Jersey and Guernsey. The Group was originally part of one of
the world's leading accountancy practices, Coopers & Lybrand, a predecessor
firm to PricewaterhouseCoopers. It specialises in the provision of wealth
management services to an international client base and in the administration
of employee benefit plans. The Group employs around 400 people and has
more than £23 billion assets under management.
—30—
Media and Investor contacts:
Media contacts:
Jeff Watt, Weber Shandwick, London, 020 7067 0716, JWatt@WeberShandwick.com
Beja Rodeck, RBC Financial Group, Toronto, 416-974-5506, toll-free 1-888-880-2173 beja.rodeck@rbc.com
Investor contacts:
Nabanita Merchant, RBC Financial Group, Toronto, 416-955-7803 nabanita.merchant@rbc.com
Dave Mun, RBC Financial Group, Toronto, 416-955-7808
dave.mun@rbc.com
Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
From time to time, we make written or oral forward-looking statements
within the meaning of certain securities laws, including the “safe
harbour” provisions of the Securities Act (Ontario) and the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We may make such
statements in this press release, in other filings with Canadian regulators
or the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, in reports to
shareholders or in other communications. These forward-looking statements
include, among others, statements with respect to our objectives for 2006,
our medium-term goal, and strategies to achieve those objectives and goals,
as well as statements with respect to our beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations,
anticipations, estimates and intentions. The words “may,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “suspect,” “outlook,” “believe,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “forecast”, “objective” and
words and expressions of similar import are intended to identify forward-looking
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By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks
and uncertainties, both general and specific, which give rise to the possibility
that predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements
will not be achieved. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on
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results to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations,
anticipations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking
statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, management of
credit, market, liquidity and funding and operational risks; the strength
of the Canadian and United States economies and the economies of other
countries in which we conduct business; the impact of the movement of the
Canadian dollar relative to other currencies, particularly the U.S. dollar
and British pound; the effects of changes in monetary policy, including
changes in interest rate policies of the Bank of Canada and the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System in the United States; the effects
of competition in the markets in which we operate; the impact of changes
in the laws and regulations regulating financial services and enforcement
thereof (including banking, insurance and securities); judicial judgments
and legal proceedings; our ability to obtain accurate and complete information
from or on behalf of our customers and counterparties; our ability to successfully
realign our organization, resources and processes; our ability to complete
strategic acquisitions and joint ventures and to integrate our acquisitions
and joint ventures successfully; changes in accounting policies and methods
we use to report our financial condition, including uncertainties associated
with critical accounting assumptions and estimates; operational and infrastructure
risks; other factors that may affect future results including changes in
trade policies, timely development and introduction of new products and
services, changes in our estimates relating to reserves and allowances,
changes in tax laws, technological changes, unexpected changes in consumer
spending and saving habits; natural disasters such as hurricanes, the possible
impact on our businesses from public health emergencies, international
conflicts and other developments including those relating to the war on
terrorism; and our success in anticipating and managing the foregoing risks.
Additional information about these factors can be found under “Risk
Management” and “Additional Risks That May Affect Future Results” in
our 2005 Management’s Discussion and Analysis.
We caution that the foregoing list of important factors that may affect
future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements
to make decisions with respect to the bank, investors and others should
carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential
events. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether
written or oral, that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.
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mentioned in this press release does not form a part of this press release.
All references in this press release to websites are inactive textual references
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