Malaysia. ANZ Bank nears deal to sell Malaysian banking stake to pension fund: sources
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AX) is near a deal to sell its Malaysian banking stake to a pension fund and exit the Southeast Asian nation, sources familiar with the matter said, in a transaction that could be worth around $900 million.
ANZ has been pursuing a sale of its 24 percent stake in its Malaysian affiliate AMMB Holdings (AmBank) (AMMB.KL) since early last year as part of a strategy to divest minority stakes in Asia and as AmBank was dragged into a wide-ranging corruption scandal at state fund 1MDB.
In June, RHB Bank (RHBC.KL) and AmBank said they were starting merger talks, in Malaysia’s biggest ever banking deal. As part of the all-share deal, valued at about $9 billion, RHB is looking to acquire AmBank and the two banks are in exclusive talks until the end of August.
ANZ’s stake is expected to be roughly 10 percent in the merged entity.
Sources said ANZ is in talks to sell that stake to Malaysian retirement fund KWAP, which already owns small stakes in both RHB and AmBank.
Both firms have “agreed in principle” to the deal at a price equivalent to one time book value of AmBank, said one of the sources.
Read full news here: Reuters
