Julius Bär, the Zurich-based private bank, is joining forces with Kairos Investment Management in Italy to establish a new private bank.

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The Swiss bank announced on Monday that it had reached an agreement with Kairos to create a new “onshore wealth management player”.

The Italian wealth manager has around €4.5 billion of assets under management.

Julius Bär said it plans to integrate its Italian SIM subsidiary into Kairos, while taking a 19.9-percent share of Kairos.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first half of 2013.

Separately the partners have agreed to apply for a banking licence after the deal is closed.

Under the agreement all Italian wealth management activities of the two groups will be run under the name Kairos Julius Bär.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Swiss bank said the deal will “significantly strengthen Julius Bär’s long-term position in Italy”.

Meanwhile, the bank showed another aspect of its Italian connection in Geneva on Friday when it sponsored a gala event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of movie producer Carlo Ponti.

The event at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices also honoured Italian actress Sophia Loren, who appeared with her two sons.

Loren, 78, a resident of Geneva, was married to Ponti, who died in Geneva in 2007 at the age of 95.

At the event she credited Ponti, whom she met when she was 16, for helping fulfill a dream she could have never fulfilled alone, Le Matin newspaper reported.

The private event was attended by 450 guests, according to the report.