UBS/Julius Baer: Baer necessities

Take one bite-sized European bank. Remove the stumbling block of a 21% shareholder. With bank deals in vogue, that looks like a recipe for a snappy takeover, right? Maybe not in the case of Julius Baer. Certainly, the Swiss private bank looks more vulnerable now UBS, its largest shareholder, says it will sell up. But a deal may not come any time soon. Julius Baer ticks a stack of boxes for potential predators. With a market value of about E12bn, it’s relatively easy to swallow. And it’s perform...