Note 38 Discontinued Operations

Private Banks & GAM

On 2 December 2005, UBS sold its Private Banks & GAM unit to Julius Baer for an aggregate consideration of CHF 5,683 million, of which CHF 3,375 million was received in cash, CHF 225 million in the form of hybrid Tier 1 instruments, and the remaining CHF 2,083 million representing a 21.5% stake in the enlarged Julius Baer. As part of the sales agreement, CHF 200 million of cash was retained within UBS. The gain on sale after taxes from this transaction amounts to CHF 3,705 million.

As part of the agreement, UBS agreed to a lock-up period of 18 months for 19.9% of the stake and of three months for the remaining 1.6%. The value of the Julius Baer stake is based on a price of CHF 86.20 per share at the date of closing, which is a discount of 8.4% to the market price to take into account the 18-month lock-up period to which 19.9% of the stake is subject. Shortly after closing, UBS reduced its 21.5% stake to approximately 20.7% by settling call options that were outstanding on the shares of the former holding company of the Private Banks & GAM businesses.

UBS has agreed not to take a seat on Julius Baer’s board of directors or exercise any control or influence on its strategy or on its operational business decisions, and has no right to register its shares with voting rights for a period of 3 years, unless specifically defined events occur that could materially dilute or otherwise affect UBS’s position as an investor in Julius Baer. In such an event, UBS has the option to register its shares with voting rights and thus obtain the possibility to vote them at shareholders’ meetings. Given the fact that the shares are not entered into Julius Baer’s share register with voting rights, UBS classified the stake as a financial investment available-for-sale.

Private Banks & GAM is presented as a discontinued operation in these financial statements. Private Banks & GAM comprised the three private banks Banco di Lugano, Ehinger & Armand von Ernst and Ferrier Lullin as well as specialist asset manager GAM and was presented as a separate business segment.

Industrial Holdings

In 2005, UBS sold four of its consolidated private equity investments for an aggregate cash consideration of CHF 179 million. In 2004, UBS sold five of its consolidated private equity investments for an aggregate cash consideration of CHF 141 million, while in 2003 one consolidated private equity investment was sold for an aggregate cash consideration of CHF 456 million. These private equity investments were all held within the Industrial Holdings segment and were sold in line with UBS’s strategy to exit the private equity business. These investments are presented as discontinued operations in these Financial Statements.

Motor-Columbus

On 30 September 2005, UBS announced that it had signed agreements to sell its 55.6% stake in Motor-Columbus to a consortium of Atel's Swiss minority shareholders, EOS Holding and Atel, as well as to the French utility Electricité de France (EDF). The sale price has been set at CHF 1.3 billion, resulting in an estimated pre-tax gain for UBS of around CHF 350 million. The transaction must be approved by various national and international authorities.

Motor-Columbus continues to be presented as a continuing operation until it is highly probable that the conditions precedent, to which the sale is subject, will be met. At that time, Motor-Columbus will be presented as a discontinued operation in the Financial Statements.