Corporate | 15 December 2009 14:30
ARAGON AG / Miscellaneous
15.12.2009
Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by
DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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- Aragon subsidiary biw Bank acquires business of E*TRADE Deutschland
- biw to profit significantly in 2009 from market trends in the online
broker segment
- Most successful year since establishment
biw Bank für Investments und Wertpapiere AG (biw), Willich, in which Aragon
has a 47% stake, is acquiring the business of E*TRADE Deutschland. E*TRADE,
the US online broker, is suspending operations in Germany from 30.12.2009.
It is to that end transferring its German business to biw, which has
already been responsible for handling the transactions of E+TRADE
Deutschland for some years.
biw Bank will in future be outsourcing customer support to its long-term
partner flatex, which is establishing a subsidiary, ViTrade, for this
purpose. The CEO of ViTrade will be Matthias Hach, currently head of
E*TRADE Deutschland. Integration is expected to be completed in the first
quarter of next year. No details of the financial package have been
released.
'The acquisition of E*TRADE's business is a milestone for biw and a logical
step along its path of becoming one of the leading outsourcing banks in
Europe', explained Ralph Konrad, CFO of Aragon AG.
Thanks to an intelligent focus on b2b business, 2009 has been the most
successful year in the company's history. biw has now passed the 100,000
private customers mark. Cash investments by customers are expected to be in
excess of EUR 300 million by the turn of the year, a growth of more than
70% on the previous year. The same growth can be posted for assets under
administration at biw, which at about EUR 1.8 billion are 80% above the
figure for the previous year.
'The more than successful development of biw is a reflection of the
structural changes in the market for online brokerage in Germany. The
volume traded by the market as a whole has fallen back sharply as a result
of the economic climate, while at the same time discounters such as flatex
are enjoying success in the marketplace and winning significant market
share. This is putting enormous cost pressure on established providers,
some of whom work with very cost-intensive IT and settlement systems. With
its streamlined processes, by contrast, biw is able to offer settlement at
favourable rates that others cannot match, which has enabled it to gain a
considerable market share since being established - especially in this
generally difficult market climate. This trend will continue in 2010. biw
is a jewel in the Aragon group's crown', Ralph Konrad added.
About Aragon AG
Aragon AG is a broadly diversified financial services company with Broker
Pools, Financial Consulting, Institutional Sales and Holding divisions.
Aragon is active in the marketplace with multiple independent subsidiaries.
The company's aim is to integrate various distribution models under one
roof without disturbing the individual identity of each sales company. The
result is a wide diversification across various asset classes and
distribution types, which generates a high stability in corporate earnings.
Further information about the company and its subsidiaries can be found at
www.aragon.ag.
About biw AG
biw's strategy differs markedly from the focus of traditional online banks,
because biw acts as a product and process service provider for its
partners, offering comprehensive white-label services as well as banking
technology know-how. biw does not have direct contact with the end
customer, but leaves customer liaison and servicing to its partners, such
as online broker flatex and private client credit portal Smava. biw
nevertheless maintains legal relations with the end customers, thereby
securing the business model of biw in the long term. For white-label
partners, the advantage of cooperation with biw is that they can offer the
complete product range of a full bank without actually needing a banking
licence of their own. biw has four business divisions: Online Brokerage,
Custody, Equity Capital Markets (ECM) and New Business Solutions. Customer
investments at biw are subject to the German deposit protection system,
while biw is also a member of the voluntary Deposit Protection Fund of the
Association of German Banks. Further information about the company and its
subsidiaries can be found at www.biw-bank.de.
Contact:
Aragon Aktiengesellschaft
Ralf Funke
Investor Relations
Tel.: +49(0)611 890 575-0
Fax: +49(0)611 890 575-99
E-Mail: ir@aragon.ag
15.12.2009 Ad hoc announcement, Financial News and Media Release distributed by DGAP.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de
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