Kleinwort Benson, one of the oldest UK private banks, has acquired Close Brothers Offshore Group for £29.1m in a move expected to result in a number of redundancies.

Kleinwort Benson said this morning it had struck a deal to buy COG's private banking, fund administration, fund management, trust and asset management businesses in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. The deal also includes the wholly-owned shared service centre in Cape Town.