ANZ Not Interested In RBS China Assets Without Banking Licenses

Post by Sharat on June 18, 2009 · Under Business News, Company News, Mergers & Acquistions, banking · Comment

Australian banking major and its fourth largest lender has categorically stated that it is not interested in acquiring British banking giant Royal Bank of Scotland’s China operations unless the deal came with RBS’s retail banking licenses.

The comments were made by ANZ chief Mike Smith in an interview published by the Australian Financial Review on Thursday. Mr. Smith visiting western China said that ANZ intends to open up to 50 branches in China within five years, doubling its initial target.

Mr. Smith told the Review that if RBS decides to go ahead with dividing up its operation in China, into divisions focusing on investment and retail banking, ANZ would not be interested in acquiring assets from RBS.

Mr. Smith went on to make the point that “assets in China, Indochina and Southeast Asia would be a perfect fit.”

RBS which faced serious trouble at the height of the banking crisis and was forced to sell a 70 per cent stake in itself to the British government, wants to sell non core Asian assets, some of which were acquired when it embarked on the ill conceived takeover of Dutch rival ABN Amro. RBS wants to retreat to its domestic markets and part of that retreat includes the sale of 13 branches in China.

Mike Smith has on numerous occasions has expressed an ambition of turning ANZ into a “super regional” bank earning 20 per of its revenues internationally. In March Mr. Smith said that he planned to have 20 branches in China by 2012.

In his interview Mr. Smith said he was sanguine about the Chinese economy, and wanted to target Chinese companies that operate in Australia as well as the higher end of the retail market.

“I am not really interested in the mass market, I don’t think we can play that,” Smith was quoted as saying.

Compare Australian Bank Accounts