* Move doubles LGT Swiss subsidiary assets to 20 bln Sfr
* LGT to pay cash, amount not disclosed
* LGT CEO does not rule out buys in AM
* LGT still suffering Liechtenstein outflows in H1, CEO says
* Commerzbank shares up 6 percent
(Adds interview with LGT CEO, analyst's comment)
By Lisa Jucca
ZURICH, July 27 (Reuters) - Germany's Commerzbank has agreed to sell the Swiss private banking unit of Dresdner Bank to Liechtenstein-based LGT Group, the first high-profile sale in an expected consolidation wave among wealth managers.
Commerzbank, the owner of Dresdner, had to accept state aid in the crisis and investors had expected it would sell its Swiss private bank unit to raise cash and avoid a row with the German government, which has attacked Switzerland's tax haven status.
LGT said on Monday that the cash purchase, for an undisclosed amount, would boost its total assets under management to 87 billion Swiss francs ($81.23 billion) and double its assets in Switzerland alone to just under 20 billion francs.
LGT, Liechtenstein's largest bank, hopes to complete the integration in mid-2010.
"I do not think we will be looking at anything in private banking for the next 12 months," Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein, LGT chief executive, told Reuters in an interview.
"But other parts of our business, like asset management, are not being impacted by this acquisition and I do not exclude more purchases in these segments," he added.
Shares in Commerzbank were up 5.7 percent at 5.340 euros by 1519 GTM, outperforming a 0.4 percent rise in the DJ Stoxx European banking index.
"The sale of Dresdner Bank (Switzerland) should be a slight positive as it strengthens CBK's capital position," Sarasin analyst Daniel Bischof said in a client note. "However, without the sales price no definitive conclusion can be drawn."
Commerzbank, Germany's second-largest bank, bought Dresdner Bank on the eve of the collapse of Lehman Brothers last year.
LIECHTENSTEIN OUTFLOWS
LGT was last year at the centre of a German probe into tax evasion in the tiny principality after Berlin paid a former employee to access bank client data.
LGT, owned by Liechtenstein's ruling family, has come under pressure to rethink its strategy after suffering client withdrawals in the wake of the scandal and is strengthening its client base outside its home turf.
Prince Max said ouflows in Liechtenstein were continuing.
"In 2008, we have had 1 billion Swiss francs outflows overall, predominantly because of the data theft scandal. But we have had strong inflows outside Liechtenstein," he said.
"This year the picture looks very similar. We have lost assets in Liechtenstein, but we have gained inflows internationally."
Zurich-based Dresdner Bank (Switzerland) had assets under management of 9.4 billion Swiss francs ($8.78 billion) at Dec. 31 and 311 employees.
The German government has taken a 25 percent stake in Commerzbank as part of its bailout plan.
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck had signalled earlier this year he wanted to prevent German banks receiving state aid from operating in offshore centres like Switzerland.
Asked whether the sale of Dresdner's Swiss unit was the result of political pressure to withdraw from tax havens, a spokeswoman for Commerzbank said: "We already said when we announced the acquisition of Dresdner Bank, that we would focus on our core activities." ($1=1.068 Swiss Franc) (Additional reporting by Ed Taylor in Frankfurt; editing by Karen Foster)