Rothschild & Co

Rothschild & Co
Public
Traded as Euronext: ROTH
Industry Financial Services
Founded 1838
Headquarters Paris, France
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 David René de Rothschild, Chairman[1]
Nigel Higgins, co-Chief Executive Officer[1]
Olivier Pécoux, co-Chief Executive Officer[1]
Alexandre de Rothschild, Director[1]
Products Investment banking
Corporate banking
Private equity
Asset management
Private banking
Revenue Increase € 1.403 billion (2015)[2]
Increase € 268 million (2015)[2]
Increase € 144 million (2015)[2]
Total assets Increase € 52.1 billion (2015)[2]
Total equity Increase € 1.419 billion (2015)[2]
Number of employees
 2,853 (2014)[3]
Subsidiaries
Website www.rothschildandco.com

Rothschild & Co (formerly Paris Orléans) is a financial holding company listed on Euronext Paris and controlled by the French and English branch of the Rothschild family. Rothschild & Co is the flagship of the Rothschild banking Group and controls the Rothschild Group’s banking activities including N M Rothschild & Sons and Rothschild & Cie Banque.

The banking business of Rothschild banking Group covers the areas of investment banking, corporate banking, private equity, asset management, private banking, and so on. In addition, Rothschild & Co has its own investment account in private equity.

It was originally a French railway company, the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans. In September 2015, Paris Orléans changed its name to Rothschild & Co.[4]

History

Beginning as railway company

The Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans was founded in 1838 as a railway company; after several takeovers and a merger with the Chemins de fer du Midi it had about 11,000 km (6,800 mi) of track, and was one of the major railway companies in France. In 1938, it was nationalised along with five other railway undertakings to form the national state railway company SNCF. After the nationalization of rail operations, the company became a simple property company.

As French banking branch of Rothschild family

Logo of Rothschild

After the Second World War, French branch of the Rothschild family took over the remains of Paris Orléans and transformed it into a holding company for its banking activities and corporate investments. These mainly included the "Banque Rothschild" (Bank), "SGIM" (property company), the "SIACI" (insurance), the "Francarep" (oil company) and the "SGDBR" (wineries), now Domaines Barons de Rothschild (DBR).

By 1980, the Paris business employed about 2,000 people and had an annual turnover of 26 billion francs ($5 billion in the currency rates of 1980).[5]

But then the Paris business suffered a near death blow in 1981 when the Socialist government of François Mitterrand nationalized Banque Rothschild and renamed it Compagnie Européenne de Banque.

In 1983, David de Rothschild and Eric de Rothschild decided to restart their family's business, using Paris Orléans as a launchpad for building a new Rothschild bank in France.

In 1984, they founded Paris Orléans Banque, which later became Rothschild & Cie Banque.[6] Capitalized at only $1 million and starting with just three employees, they made their tiny investment bank into a major competitor in France and continental Europe. Today, Rothschild & Cie Banque is the French branch of the Rothschild group.

As the flagship of Rothschild Group

In 2003, English and French firms merged into the Rothschild Group under the leadership of David R. de Rothschild. To do this, a holding company, Concordia BV, was created to own the Rothschild Group’s banking activities. Now, Rothschild & Co holds 100% of Concordia BV.

Rothschild & Co today

Banking

For the merger of the banking activities of the English and French branch of the Rothschild family in January 2008, the company "Paris Orléans SCA" became the flagship of the family business of Rothschild. The share capital of Paris Orléans is controlled to 58.64% by the Rothschild family (March 2010). The remaining shares are widely spread on the exchange.[7][8]

Paris Orléans SCA controls "Concordia BV". "Concordia BV" in turn controls "Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG". "Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG" in turn controls the Rothschild Group’s banking activities.

The most important holdings of Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG are:

Rothschild Group has a total of 57 offices in 45 countries on five continents and employs 2853 employees worldwide. In the area of investment banking, Rothschild Group has specialized in the M & A advisory. Today, Rothschild Group is the most active M & A house in Europe.[9]

Private equity business

In addition to banking activities, Rothschild & Co holds in the area of private equity investments on their own account with a total value of €471 million (in March 2010). This portfolio includes investments in private equity funds and mezzanine financing, including investments in listed and unlisted companies.

Historically, the Rothschild family owns many Bordeaux vineyards since 1868. Les Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) is one of Rothschild's winery company.

See also

Notes

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, February 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.