THE newness of the merger between Pierson, Heldring & Pierson and Bank Mees & Hope is made abundantly clear by the fact the new company's name in the foyer appears on a large piece of computer paper taped to the wall.
MeesPierson is an amalgamation of two wholly owned subsidiaries of the Dutch ABN-Amro Bank, which ranks among the world's top 20 financial institutions.
MeesPierson managing director Francis Loudon said the merger made sense because it increased the merchant bank's equity to US$1 billion, which compared favourably with industry stalwarts Goldman Sachs and S.G. Warburg, which have equity of $1.7 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.
''Size-wise, we are now in the right shape,'' said Mr Loudon during a week-long visit to Hongkong. ''It is not the answer to everything, but you need a certain size to achieve certain things.'' The merger was relatively pain-free because there was not a lot of overlap between the two firms, although between 400 and 500 administrative jobs in the Netherlands will be eliminated over the next two to three years.
It also put an end to market uncertainty because there had been speculation that ABN-Amro would sell either one or both firms.
Pierson's strength was commercial and private banking, fund management and securities while Mees concentrated on commercial banking, particularly trade financing.
MeesPierson has an extensive international network that was built up by Pierson over the past eight to nine years - with Asian offices located in Hongkong, Singapore, Taipei, Jakarta and Toyko.