The Bank of Butterfield yesterday said its offer to buy Leopold Joseph Holdings Plc, a UK private banking company, was accepted by shareholders owning 90.9 percent of the company?s stock.

The bid, worth ?51.5 million ($93 million), was declared unconditional, the bank said.

The bank announced in February that it had put in an offer for the top-shelf private London bank with a long list of well-heeled clients. Leopold Joseph was founded in 1919 and is the bank of choice for the rich and famous including the Rolling Stones and Cat Stevens. ?It is a good fit for us,? Bank of Butterfield president and chief executive officer Alan Thompson said at the time, adding that it was good for shareholder value and good for the company. ?We have the same core values, and that is important.?

The deal will bring the number of staff globally at Bank of Butterfield to over 1,500 as well as a long list of wealthy clients. It will also make the bank a direct competitor of the Queen?s bank, Coutts and Co., and will give the Bermuda bank plush offices in the City of London, the financial district in London.

The London bank, which also has offices in Guernsey, was put up for sale in September, and a rigorous bidding and auction process with more than 30 companies after the prize, Bank of Butterfield won out.

Leopold Joseph, which was floated in 1971, said it did not have the resources to pursue opportunities as an independent entity. In February, Robin Herbert, chairman of Leopold Joseph said: ?Following an extensive strategic review, the board of directors of Leopold Joseph believe that the offer by Bank of Butterfield represents the most attractive means of realising value for Leopold Joseph?s shareholders.?

The bank has discreetly looked after the money of the wealthy for decades and was the bank of choice for the showbiz set in the 1960s, according to the London Evening Standard.

Mr. Thompson said that because of the value of the Leopold Joseph name, Bank of Butterfield would be keeping the name and adding Bank of Butterfield to the nameplates.

?Leopold Joseph is a good brand name and obviously our objective is to preserve the value and Leopold Joseph has value in the market,? said Mr. Thompson. ?Private banks all have their own niche markets, based on customers and management, they are not identical by any means but it is the same basic approach.? Independent private banks have recently in Britain been bought out after finding it hard to survive without the resources offered by the larger banks. Even Coutts was bought up by a bigger parent company recently, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Cater Allen, part of the Abbey National.