Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm DWS Group is looking to modify the company’s existing corporate structure in a bid to serve different groups of shareholders, reported Bloomberg.
DWS Group CEO Stefan Hoops could adopt a legal setup that is similar to a UK-based entity, people privy to the development told the agency.
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The firm’s existing structure limits the minority shareholders’ influence.
However, it is yet to become clear if Hoops will propose the idea in a strategy review in two weeks, added the unnamed people.
Hoops is carrying out a broad review of the company before its investor day on 7 December 2022. During the deliberation, he will present his plans for DWS.
A spokesman for DWS refused to give any updates on the development.
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By GlobalDataThe firm’s existing corporate structure, dubbed Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien (KgaA), comes under German corporate law.
KgaA is a kind of limited partnership that incorporates components of a corporation selling stock.
The company in its IPO brochure said that the setup could reduce its valuation as several investors may not be acquainted with it.
Deutsche Bank, which now owns nearly 80% stake in DWS, selected the setup when it was targeting a public listing for DWS in early 2018.
One of the reasons for choosing the structure was that it allowed Deutsche Bank to divest its stake to less than 50% without losing ownership.
Another reason was top officials of Deutsche Bank, instead of the DWS supervisory board, could take the decisions of utmost importance about the asset manager, involving possible changes to the legal setup.
According to the people, the business could now adopt the German Aktiengesellschaft structure, which would offer the power of making some decisions back to DWS.
