Another conglomerate out of Asia has bought a European private bank, adding to a collection of such moves.

A Hong Kong-based group of companies has snapped up a European private bank, Raiffeisen Privatbank Liechtenstein, for SFr58.6 million ($60 million), continuing a pattern of Asian buyers of European wealth management houses in recent weeks.

Mason Group Holdings said in a statement that the payment is subject to a number of adjustments, based on talks between the organisations about the historical financial performance of the bank and other variables. Mason intends to fund its payment by net proceeds from a rights issue completed in February this year.

The deal is subject to a number of conditions and relevant approvals.

At the end of 2016, the bank logged a pre-tax profit of SFr1.6 million, down from SFr1.068 million a year earlier. Revenue dipped to SFr10.079 million from SFr10.114 million. The bank at end-2016 had total assets of SFr369.631 million, and net assets of SFr40.914 million.

Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong-based firms are buying European private banks, attracted by diversification of revenues and possibly the ability to process money through such channels. As previously reported, Mason Group Holdings, a financial firm backed by Chinese property tycoon Hui Wing Mau, has been reportedly looking to acquire wealth management businesses to build an offshore organisation with at least $3 billion. 

Earlier in September, for example, Legend Holdings, which owns PC maker Lenovo and which also owns a number of financial businesses, agreed to buy 90 per cent of Banque Internationale a Luxembourg for €1.48 billion ($1.76 billion), marking another move by a Chinese conglomerate to buy European wealth management operations. In the case of that deal, BIL, which was bought by Qatar-based private equity house Precision Capital in late 2012 from Franco-Belgian bank Dexia, joined the ranks of European private banks in Chinese hands. Hong Kong-listed Fosun International, for example, has acquired such businesses, buying European wealth management and private banking operations; it agreed to buy Hauck & Aufhäuser, the venerable German private banking and financial firm, for example.

While Chinese authorities have sought to curb certain capital outflows in recent months, the acquisition of a foreign private bank could be seen as a way for certain groups to ensure capital can, in certain circumstances, still circulate.