BHF Bank, full name Berliner Handels- und Frankfurter Bank was a German bank formed in 1970 by merger between the Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft and Frankfurter Bank, both founded in the 1850s. It was initially named Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft – Frankfurter Bank (lit. 'Trade Company of Berlin – Bank of Frankfurt') and was rebranded BHF Bank in 1975.[1]
BHF Bank was among the largest commercial banks in Germany, but experienced relative decline under successive ownership of ING Group and Sal. Oppenheim. It was eventually acquired by Paris-based Oddo & Cie which subsequently renamed itself ODDO BHF.
History
BHF Bank was formed on 1 September 1970 (with retroactive effect at 1 January 1970) from the merger of the Frankfurter Bank, founded in 1854, and the Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft; founded in 1856.[2] Also in 1970, the bank's BHF Bank Tower, initially commissioned by Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft and designed by architect Sep Ruf, was inaugurated, by then the highest building in Frankfurt. In 1975, the bank was renamed to BHF Bank.