The Bloomberg news service which cited unnamed sources close to the negotiations saying three publicly traded REIT’s including Lexington Realty Trust, National Retail Properties and Realty Income Corp have been approached recently. According to the sources several Private Equity firms have also expressed their interest in Sprint.

Macquarie declined to comment through its spokesperson, whilst the interested REIT’s also either declined to comment.

Sprint Finance Corp owns or finances approximately 1,200 retail properties across 45 states, The Scottsdale, Arizona-based REIT has listed assets valued at US$3.5 billion on its balance sheet., and debts of US$2.9 billion.

A consortium including Macquarie and Icelandic bank Kaupthing Bank hf acquired Sprint in 2007, for US$3.5 billion and $1.9 billion of assumed debt.

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NAB’s extended exclusivity agreement with AXA APH and its French parent AXA SA expires at 0001 AEST on Friday. After expiration of the exclusivity arrangement, both APH and AXA SA are then free to terminate the agreement and begin negotiations with other interested bidders.

Sydney based Australian wealth manager AMP is still considering whether it intends to submit an improved bid to APH’s board, after its initial bid which valued APH at $12.85 billion lapsed.

NAB, whose initial bid was rejected by the competition regulator on the grounds that competition would be stifled within the wealth management space was granted an extension to the original exclusivity arrangement on June 1st, to allow the lender more time to address the regulators concern and win its approval for the deal.

A spokesperson for Australia’s third largest bank told the APP that discussions with third parties over the possible sale of APH’s North and Wealth.net platforms were indeed “progressing”, but that he could not comment on what stage the negotiations were at.

NAB also remains in talks with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which on June 25 said there still was no new information that could be released.

The regulator hat still not published its public competition assessment, which is a report that provides insight into why it failed to give its approval for the proposed NAB acquisition. The regulator has not set any date for its disclosure.

The ACCC rejected NAB’s bid on the grounds the deal would substantially lessen competition for retail investment platforms for investors with complex investment needs.

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The Australian quoted unnamed sources as playing down the likelihood that a new bid from NAB, one which would address the concerns that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s had were imminent.

NAB is rumoured to be negotiating the sale of part of APH as part of plan that would alleviate the competition regulators worries, after its initial bid failed to receive the regulator’s blessing.

The Australian previously reported NAB had identified IOOF as its preferred buyer for APH’s North investment platform and was working towards an agreed deal.

Despite the proposal to divest certain parts of the business, the regulator needs to be satisfied such a sale would address its concerns, and this may involve sounding out the opinion of market participants, a process which may take a few weeks, after which the regulator will once again consider the matter.

NAB proposes to pay $4.6bn for APH’s Australian assets, and to sell the Asian assets to APH’s French parent AXA SA for more than $9bn.

Despite the ACCC’s failure to grant its blessing for the NAB bid not surprising many, its reasoning in not doing so did raise some eyebrows. The North investment platform has been valued at less than $50 million, yet such a small part of the APH business seems to have become the main obstacle to the deal proceeding.

IOOF remains the preferred buyer, ahead of other interested parties that include Perpetual and Count.

AMP the other bidder in the takeover battle has itself engaged in a strategy of counter attack, lobbying the regulator with the argument that the sale of the North investment platform would not have the effect of increasing competition.

The group has argued that IOOF does not have the distribution muscle or funds under management to build North into a competitor able to challenge the likes of NAB’s wealth management unit MLC, or Westpac’s BT and Asgard operations.

Both NAB and APH have the right to terminate their agreement on July 15. Failure to terminate would mean the deal is automatically extended.

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The decision to approve the acquisition means that AMP is now in a better position should it decide it wants to renew its bid to acquire APH, after the rival bid initiated by NAB failed to receive the Australian competition regulators blessing.

The New Zealand Commerce Commission chairman Mark Berry justifying its decision said the acquisition of APH by AMP would not substantially reduce competition. AMP said it welcomed the findings of the Commission.

“A merger between AMP and AXA Asia Pacific’s Australian and New Zealand businesses would create a fifth pillar in the critically important financial services sector, creating a stronger wealth manager to better serve the Australian and New Zealand communities. A merger would also offer both AMP and AXA Asia Pacific shareholders the opportunity to benefit from the long term growth potential of the combined group.” AMP said in a statement.

In April the Australian competition said that it would not give its approval for rival bidder NAB to acquire APH, citing that such a merger would reduce competition in the retail investment markets.

The ACCC said it wouldn’t oppose AMP’s proposal, which was rejected by the target’s independent directors in December in favour of the higher NAB offer.

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US private equity firm Lone Star funds is selling a stake worth as much as US$4.1 billion and it is understood that ANZ is the front runner in acquiring the stake.

Larry Klane, chief executive of KEB said an ANZ acquisition of the lender would fit well with its stated ambition of becoming a super-regional lender.

“ANZ is a fine institution based in Australia but with a growing pan-Asian footprint and aspiration, and I think it’s in that context that they might find our franchise would fit in very nicely,” Mr Klane told CNBC.

“I’m not in a position to be commenting too particularly on individual participants and how they’re playing or not playing in this particular process.”

ANZ may face stiff competition for the stake, most notably from Japanese securities firm Nomura which has also expressed interest.

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ANZ was the preferred bidder in the race to acquire the stake, since it already owned a 38.8 per cent share in the Indonesian bank, ahead of rival bidders Standard Chartered and Spain’s BBVA.

ANZ currently operates a joint venture with Panin, which is being used to transfer the assets in Indonesia acquired from Royal Bank of Scotland, an arrangement that was finalized on Monday.

Despite its Asian aspirations, its Indonesian plans were dealt a body blow, when it was revealed that Mukmin Ali Gunawan, the largest share holder in Panin had no plans to sell his existing stake in the lender despite receiving several offers.

“He has a strong commitment to develop the bank and isn’t in a dire need to get cash,” a source at Panin Group told Dow Jones Newswires.

Analysts estimate the stake to be worth as much as $1.4 billion, and many were surprised by the revelation that the aging patriarch wished to retain control, since Panin had already mandated UBS to advise it on the transaction.

A spokesperson for ANZ said the lender intended to maintain its stake in Panin, and wishes to expand the existing joint venture between the two lenders.

“Our 39 per cent stake is a strategic investment, which is an important part of our super regional strategy and we are committed to working with other shareholders to grow and develop the bank over the long term,” he said.

Panin is the seventh-largest lender in Indonesia and has 364 branches across the nation. The Gunawan family holds 46 per cent of the bank and the stake is eventually expected to be sold.

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The New Zealand Commerce Commission has postponed its giving its decision on the acquisition until June 25th.

AMP has proposed to acquire APH for a consideration of $12.85 billion, a bid that was later trumped by rival bidder NAB, who tabled a $$3.29 billion bid.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission failed to bestow its blessing for NAB’s higher bid over competition concerns in the retail funds sector.

“Allowing NAB and Axa to merge would significantly diminish incentives to compete for retail investment platforms used by investors that have complex financial needs,” ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said in April.

In response to the negative verdict, NAB has begun negotiation with the Australian competition regulator over divestment of APH’s North investment platform, in order to allay some of the regulators concerns.

AMP has made the case that its acquisition of APH would fail to have a substantial impact on competition, as a result of a large number of independent rivals that would remain, and has therefore not submitted a higher bid for APH.

AMP argues that its acquisition would result in the creation of a fifth pillar in Australian financial services.

Earlier this month, Axa APH and its Paris-based parent Axa extended an exclusivity agreement with NAB until July 15 to give the bank more time to negotiate with the ACCC.

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Last week, NAB disclosed that it continued to remain in discussion with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and third parties who were interested in acquiring APH’s North investment platform.

NAB hopes that a sale of the investment platform would help allay the competition regulators concerns that the lender would as a result of its acquisition end up dominating the retail investment market, despite receiving no assurances from the ACCC that such a sale would put its fears to rest.

NAB is negotiating with wealth management group IOOF, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and Perpetual to sell the platform, which is expected to be discounted to attract a buyer.

Analysts at Credit Suisse say they believe any sale and resulting lease back arrangement would make NAB the single largest customer of any potential buyer, which would mean it would have undue influence over the pricing.

“We think that the ACCC will — rightly so — come under a lot of pressure for allowing the transaction to go through under such a scenario,” analysts said.

Additionally, analysts believe that the complexity involved in stripping out the asset from the NAB operation does not make it attractive to buyers.

“Finally, we urge investors not to forget that even if NAB manages to convince the ACCC, it still needs to get Treasury approval which is nowhere near a foregone conclusion in our view,” the analysts said.

Investment bankers say that it is becoming increasingly likely that NAB would have to raise dramatically the planned $1.5 billion capital raising to finance the APH transaction.

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According to a report in Britain’s Sunday Times, NAB has dropped out of the running for the acquisition of a 318 strong branch network put up for sale by troubled lender RBS. The report then suggested that NAB would exit the UK altogether and put its two UK lenders, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank’s up for sale.

The report, which did not cite any sources also said that Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria is considering a takeover of NAB’s British assets that could value the business at 2 billion pounds ($3.5bn).

Responding to the report, NAB issued a statement through a spokesperson on Monday clarifying its position: “We wouldn’t comment on the speculation but we would reiterate, as we’ve said before, that we are comfortable with the status quo and aren’t under any pressure to participate in consolidation,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman also declined to confirm NAB’s withdrawal from the race for RBS’s branches.

The Wall Street Journal in its report citing another unnamed source said that NAB had exited the race to acquire the branch network, which would mean the leading bidder remaining in the race is Banco Santander. BBVA also continues to remain in the running, though RBS had asked the lender to make some improvements to its original bid.

According to the WSJ’s source, NAB withdrew from the race over concerns about expanding in the UK during an uncertain macroeconomic environment.

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The report goes on to add that whilst the strategy did come with risks, ANZ would confound sceptics who believe that international expansion undertaken by banks would act as a “graveyard” for capital.

Credit Suisse analyst Jarrod Martin says he believes that the lender is now poised to reap the benefits of the its previous Asian investments.

“We have a favourable view on ANZ in Asia, namely, that ANZ has the most credible international expansion strategy among the major (domestic) banks, with a sensible strategic direction, executed vigorously by managers with relevant local market experience, and leveraging some competitive advantages.” Mr. Martin said.

ANZ chief executive Mike Smith, who assumed the top job at the lender in 2007 outlined an ambitious strategy of Asia Pacific expansion upon joining the lender, a strategy which seeks a contribution of 20 per cent of the lenders $8 billion 2012 earnings from international operations.

The strategy would be achieved mostly by organic growth, but also by acquisition.

In 2009 ANZ acquired selected banking operations in the region previously owned by troubled UK banking giant Royal Bank of Scotland for US$500 million. The lender is now reportedly seeking to boost its 40 per cent stake in PT Bank Panin to majority control and has expressed interest in purchasing a majority stake in Korea Exchange Bank from private equity firm Lone Star funds.

Mr. Martin says that ANZ may well benefit from remitting surplus deposits in Asia to Australia to fund lending growth, but this was limited to foreign currency deposits and not those in the local currency.

Asian banking markets hold an estimated $US5.7 trillion in surplus deposits over loans.

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