Prospect Of NAB Selling British Units Increasingly Likely

Post by Sharat on December 18, 2009 · Under Australian Economy, Business News, Company News, International Business News, Mergers & Acquistions, Wealth Management, banking · Comment

Australian banking major National Australia Bank says it is considering its options, and may participate in the trend of consolidation that is occurring in the British banking sector, where it owns two lenders, The Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks.

NAB says it has received a number of approaches by various suitors about its desire to participate in the current wave of consolidation that is underlining the British banking industry.

Speaking at the bank’s annual general meeting in Brisbane, the lenders chief Cameron Clyne, told shareholders that “We have been approached by a number of players in the UK market to see how we could work with them to participate in that consolidation. We are going to explore and assess what value these approaches offer for NAB shareholders,”.

Mr. Clyne revealed the lender had been approached after making the surprise announcement that NAB had reached an agreement with the independent board members of regional insurer and wealth manager AXA Asia Pacific Holders, to acquire the firm for $13.3 billion.

Under the terms of the deal, NAB would acquire the entire company and simultaneously sell the Asian businesses to APH’s French parent AXA SA for $7 billion, leaving NAB with the Australian insurance and wealth management operations of the target company for roughly $4.3 billion.

The bid trumps a rival deal proposed by Australian wealth management firm AMP for exactly the same transaction that values APH at $12.8 billion.

Mr. Clyne failed to provide specific details over the exact nature of the approaches NAB has received regarding its British units, but said they “indicate that in our Clydesdale and Yorkshire bank, we have a high quality asset that is an attractive platform for participation in UK market developments”.

After taking the helm at NAB earlier in the year, Mr. Clyne had said that the lender would retain its British units, contradicting speculation at the time that NAB would sell the businesses.

During a business lunch last month, Mr. Clyne told attendees that NAB was closely following the potential break up of RBS in the UK, suggesting that the lender was eyeing potential acquisition opportunities.

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