Swiss banking group UBS, a leading global investment services firm, said yesterday it was buying US brokerage and fund manager PaineWebber, the fourth-largest US private client firm.

UBS Warburg will pay $10.8 billion (€11.37 billion) in cash and shares, offering $73.50 per PaineWebber share, the Swiss bank said in a statement. The offer price represents a premium of 47 per cent over PaineWebber's closing price on July 11th, UBS said.

The Swiss bank also reported preliminary second-quarter results, showing a 134 per cent jump in group net profit from a year ago.

PaineWebber reported a 22 per cent decline in second-quarter profits to $127.5 million, hurt by acquisition charges and a slump in bond trading.