NAB Considering Acquisition of RBS And Lloyds Assets

Post by Sharat on November 24, 2009 · Under Business News, Company News, International Business News, Mergers & Acquistions, banking · Comment

Australian banking major National Australia Bank (NAB) says it considering its options, after troubled UK, lenders Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds revealed that both are planning to sell units and shed branches, in order to maintain their eligibility for government support.

NAB which owns two UK lenders already, Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank’s says it will be watching any planned asset sale closely.

NAB chief executive Cameron Clyne, speaking at business lunch organized by the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce in Sydney says it was still too early say whether the Melbourne based lender would bid for any assets that come up for sale.

Regulators in Europe are requiring lenders that benefit from government assistance to divest assets, which effectively stops them from having an unfair advantage.

Last month, NAB posted its first loss in nine years, as a result of rising bad debt and poor results from its British units. NAB took advantage of the relative weakness of its UK rivals during the 2009 financial year to write more loans during the period.

“We’ve got two routes there, either expand or get out,” Mr. Clyne said.

“If we are going to go offshore we need to say what is our point of difference. We are putting that filter over everything we are considering.” He added.

Mr. Clyne refused to say whether the lender was considering bidding for Australian wealth manager AMP, which itself recently launched a joint bid for AXA Asia Pacific Holdings with APH’s French Parent AXA.

Some analysts have speculated that AMP’s bid for AXA APH could be in jeopardy if the company itself becomes a target for acquisition by one of the Big Four lenders.

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