Banca Leonardo shuts down PE activities

The wave of structural reorganisations has hit Italy’s Banca Leonardo, which is one of the recent banks to decide to re-focus its activities, towards its advisory and wealth management and away private equity division.

Indeed, in comparison to the group’s advisory and investment banking divisions which worked on 23 deals for an aggregated value of €14bn, the private equity business is noticeably smaller and immediate future opportunities deemed scarce. The sale is expected to return €259m or the equivalent to per share.

But while Banca Leonardo is winding down its private equity activities, the group has recently reinforced its European presence by opening an office in Brussels which will begin operating later this year.

Citi is also reported to be preparing the spin off or sale of its $10bn private equity division as part of the bank’s efforts to reduce its debt.