Zurich: UBS Group said it will use some shares that it had repurchased over the past year to finance the acquisition of Credit Suisse Group, after the Swiss regulator approved a change to its buyback plan.
The Zurich-based lender had bought back about 299 million shares under a program started a year ago. It needs about 178 million own shares for the Credit Suisse takeover and had asked the Swiss Takeover Commission to use some repurchased shares for the deal instead of canceling them, according to a statement Tuesday.
Switzerland’s largest bank said it’s using repurchased stock because it didn’t want to issue new shares for the $3 billion deal agreed last month in government-brokered rescue talks, without the consultation of shareholders. A $5 billion buyback announced this year had already been put on pause as UBS embarks on a multi-year integration and restructuring.
To oversee the execution of deal, UBS brought back former CEO Sergio Ermotti, and it has held talks with veteran Tom Naratil about returning to the bank, Bloomberg has reported. It has also tapped strategy consultant Oliver Wyman for help on the integration, reconnecting Ermotti with former adviser Huw van Steenis.
