ANZ acquires RBS’s Asian assets for $550 million
04 Aug 2009
Australia's fourth-biggest bank, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ Bank) has agreed to buy six Asian units of troubled British banking giant Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for $550 million, the Melbourne-based bank said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange today.
The units include RBS' businesses in Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Vietnam.
RBS, 70 per cent owned by the UK government, remains in ''advanced discussions'' with bidders for the remaining assets it has decided to sell in Asia and will make further announcements when appropriate, the Edinburg-based bank said in a statement.
Standard Chartered Bank and ANZ were reported to be in talks to buy RBS's assets in China India and Malaysia.
According to reports, ANZ has received informal clearance from the Reserve Bank of India for a possible acquisition of RBS's Indian assets (See: ANZ plans returning to India by acquiring RBS assets: reports).
ANZ Bank is paying 1.1 times the recapitalised book value of the RBS assets, it said.
