Sir Evelyn de Rothschild sells his shares to French holding company
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
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Sir Evelyn de Rothschild - one of the City's best-known and well-connected financiers - signalled the end of an era yesterday by selling his shareholding in the bank that bears his name.
Sir Evelyn, who had been the chairman of the English branch of the family-owned Rothschild banking business for 22 years, is disposing of his stake in the bank as part of a €446m (£300m) deal designed to simplify the group's still complex structure.
Under the deal, Paris-Orleans, the holding company of the French branch of the family, will take 100 per cent ownership of Concordia BV, which is the ultimate holding company of the Rothschild banking group. It will do this by paying Sir Evelyn €223m in cash with the remainder in shares, which will go to his three children. Sir Evelyn had already stepped down from running the business when he ceded control of the English branch to his distant cousin David in 2003.
The move unified the French and English sides of the business but was widely seen as giving the French side control. That has been consolidated by yesterday's restructuring, which will create a new holding company, jointly owned by the different branches of the family.
Under the new structure, Eric de Rothschild and his family will own 38.4 per cent of it while David de Rothschild and family will hold 25.1 per cent, giving the French branch of the family 63.5 per cent.
The children of Sir Evelyn will hold the remaining 36.5 per cent, through the issue of 647,000 new shares by Paris-Orleans.
David de Rothschild said in a statement: "It enables us to simplify further the shareholding structure of the group and to unify the shareholding of the French and English branches of the family for a new generation."
Under his stewardship, the company brought to an end its chairmanship of the unique daily "gold fix" in London, that set the price of the precious metal. The four members would raise Union Jack flags when they were happy, and the price would then be set. The process is now completed by telephone.
Sir Evelyn has enjoyed a glittering career both at Rothschild - which operates one of the few surviving M&A advisory businesses outside the giant bulge bracket firms - and outside. He is a former chairman of The Economist and of United Racecourses, which became Jockey Club Racecourses, and he owns some of Britain's most important tracks including Cheltenham, Epsom and Newmarket. He is also a former director of the Telegraph Group of newspapers and De Beers.
Sir Evelyn set up EL Partners, a private equity operation, with his wife, Lynn Forester, the American entrepreneur and socialite.
