Yorkshire Bank owner pulls out of possible Aussie acquisition
Published Date:
22 July 2008
Business Editor
Attempts by Royal Bank of Scotland to sell the Australian and New Zealand operations of recent acquisition ABN Amro were dealt a blow today.
National Australia Bank, which owns the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks in the UK, said it was no longer involved in the sale process.
The announcement comes less than a fortnight after NAB was named as one of a number of parties interested in buying the ABN Amro assets, which were acquired by RBS amid the Dutch bank's near £50bn takeover last year.
The ABN business, which specialises in investment and wholesale banking, is reported to be worth around 800m Australian dollars (£390.8m).
Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Japan's Nomura have also been linked.
RBS is also looking to offload its Churchill and Direct Line insurance business, but this was dealt a blow recently when one of the leading candidates pulled out of the running.
Zurich's withdrawal added to speculation that RBS may not meet the £7bn price tag hoped for by management.
The NatWest owner has been seeking to boost its finances after suffering hefty write-downs amid the credit crunch and following the ABN purchase.
It recently completed a £12bn cash-call to investors in Britain's largest corporate rights issue and has also been offloading assets, such as train leasing firm Angel Trains for £3.6bn.
The full article contains 231 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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Last Updated:
25 July 2008 8:21 AM
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Source:
n/a
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Location:
Leeds
