The sale of German state bank HSH Nordbank to a consortium of private equity companies, announced in February, has been completed.
Cerberus Capital Management, J. C. Flowers & Co., GoldenTree Asset Management, Centaurus Capital LP and BAWAG now have a 100% stake in the bank between them, and it will soon operate under the name Hamburg Commercial Bank.
Stefan Ermisch, CEO of HSH Nordbank, commented: “This successful switch from public-sector to exclusively private-sector shareholders is genuinely new territory in the German banking sector and marks the beginning of a new era for our Bank. My thanks go to our previous shareholders, the federal states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, who have at all times been professional and focused in driving this sale forward.
“For us, this successful privatisation is both affirmation and motivation, and we shall now focus all our energy on the new era. We will become a medium-sized, Hamburg-based commercial bank for Germany with a pronounced client orientation and we are ready to make a new start.”
Juan Rodriguez Inciarte has been appointed chairman of the board, and the bank says it aspires by the end of 2021 to produce a pre-tax return on equity of at least 8%. It will do this by continuing to operate its core business areas, but with a sharper focus and more selective and efficient use of its resources. It has also signalled an intention to expand in the renewable energy financing business.
