Swiss financial firm Julius Baer is all set to acquire Bank of America Merrill Lynch's non-US private banking unit, which would increase its business operation by almost 50%.
It is believed that the deal may be finalized during the next week for which Baer may be ready to reimburse nearly $2bn to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as reported by the Reuters citing sources familiar with the matter.
According to an estimate, Merrill Lynch’s non-US private banking unit oversees approximately $90bn capital in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia.
One of the sources told the news agency, "An announcement is expected within a couple of days now."
In June, the Swiss lender announced that it is discussing with Merrill Lynch to acquire the unit, but not made it clear that it has approached to purchase the whole business or some part of it.
Bank of America, which manages nearly $2 trillion of client assets, said that its non-US wealth management unit is not fetching attractive profit.
If the proposed deal is sealed by Julius Baer, it will boost the Swiss lender’s asset under management by 50% from $183.56bn, as reported in the first half of 2012 financial result.
The US bank suffered huge losses during the financial crisis of 2008, and is involved in a court case related to its 2008 acquisition of subprime mortgage lender Countrywide Financial.