Deutsche Bank in deal to widen metals trading.

Deutsche Bank is moving to expand its precious-metals trading operation in London and New York.

The bank announced last week that it had entered an agreement to acquire Sharps-Pixley Ltd., London

Sharps-Pixley, a bullion and metals trading company, is one of the five members of the committee that fixes the world gold price daily in London. It is a member of the New York Commodity Exchange.

Strategy of Expansion

Deutsche Bank is active in gold trading and sales in Germany but has only limited operations outside the country.

Officials said the move was part of a plan to expand precious-metals operations.

"We have a huge [metals trading] operation in Frankfurt but only relatively small operations in London and New York," Hans-Joachim Goechtz, head of Deutsche Bank's securities, currencies, and metals trading division said in Frankfurt.

"We wanted to strengthen our presence in those markets," Mr. Goehtz said.

No price was disclosed for the transaction.

Sharps-Pixley was a unit of Kleinwort Benson Group PLC.

It was integrated into Kleinwort's treasury operations in 1990 in an effort to cut support costs.

Industry sources said that although Sharps-Pixley is profitable, it had not been a big contributor to Kleinwort Benson's earnings.

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