Should ANZ buy RBS assets in Asia?

27 May 2009

1 minute read

ANZ is trying to raise up to $2.85bn by selling new shares to help fund its bid to buy Asian banking assets from Royal Bank of Scotland.

Is this a wise expansion or a potentially disastrous move away from its core Australian business?

The bank has lodged a non-binding bid to buy "selected" assets from RBS, which is selling retail and commercial banking units in eight Asian countries, including India, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Would buying into these key markets help ANZ achieve its goal of becoming a "super regional" lender in Asia?

HSBC and Standard Chartered are also in the hunt, but might not be interested in everything, which could allow ANZ to secure some businesses.

Which parts of RBS should ANZ be aiming for? Or should it stay well away? Let us know below.

AUTHORAnonymous

Insider Comment

Ra
Ralph Norris
29 May 2009
ANZ has a good presence in Asia and with this potential acquisition will only expand it further, differentiating it from the other 3 major Aussie banks. Its the only bank with a real growth strategy, other than cannibalising the local market like CBA and Westpac. NAB has no strategy apart to retract. As long as it doesn't pay too much, this could be the opportunity of a lifetime.
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St
Stowman
28 May 2009
HSBC and Standard chartered rule this area. It will be very hard to get real profits and market share unless they go into new territory in South East Asia, in competiton with OCBC and DBS
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Va
Vance
27 May 2009
ANZ is in the running for the Indonesian and Singapore parts of the RBS, but the real prize is its Hong Kong operations.
But here it faces a battle with HSBC and Standard Chartered.
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Gr
GregR
27 May 2009
ANZ has talked up its Asian ambitions for a long time and used them to distance itself from others in the Big Four. Now's the time for ANZ to put its money where is mouth is.
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RR
RRRTTT
27 May 2009
RBS has a great retail operation, plus private banking and credit cards. On the surface it seems like a good fit with ANZ's current retail focus.
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