Deutsche Bank wants to buy the London-based investment bank Numis for 410 million pounds (the equivalent of around 465 million euros). This was announced by both companies on Friday. Numis is known in the City of London as a smaller but very active investment bank. Deutsche Bank is offering 350 pence per share. That's a hefty 72 per cent premium over the previous day's closing price of 204 pence. The Numis price jumped by 65 percent early Friday morning. Deutsche Bank shares temporarily lost 1 percent to 9.70 euros.

Philip Plickert

Business correspondent based in London.

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The purchase will allow Deutsche Bank to accelerate its "global bank" strategy, Germany's largest bank wrote. It is tapping into a "much deeper engagement with the business customer segment in the UK". As a result, Deutsche Bank will become a leading provider of financial services and consulting for 170 business clients, both companies wrote in their purchase agreement.

Numis Chairman Luke Savage was pleased with the purchase offer from Frankfurt. It is an "attractive offer" for its own shareholders, but promises considerable opportunities for the customers and employees of the London-based broker. Deutsche Bank board member Fabrizio Campelli, responsible for the corporate and investment bank of Germany's largest bank, called Numis a very good addition to Deutsche Bank.

Numis' annual profit fell by 2022 percent in 70

Numis was founded in 1989 and employs around 300 people, mainly in London and New York. Annual profit in the 2022 financial year (to the end of September) fell by 72 per cent to just under £21 million as the business of IPOs and capital increases for companies has cooled sharply. Revenue fell by a third to £144 million.

The two co-CEOs Alex Ham and Ross Mitchinson spoke of "significant challenges" in December on the occasion of the presentation of the results, but Numis has shown resilience and continues to pursue its long-term strategy. However, the outlook remains difficult this year as well. The broker advises more corporate clients who are listed on the British FTSE350 stock index. Their number had grown by a fifth to almost 2022 in 70.

The main shareholder of Numis is Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, who has made a fortune with the fashion company Bestseller. He holds nearly 23 percent of the shares, according to Refinitiv data. As early as 2018, the Frankfurt-based bank had held talks with Numis about a takeover. At that time, there was talk of a purchase price of more than half a billion pounds.