RBI
DealWatch
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RBI DealWatch tracks
global financial services mergers and acquisitions, privatisations
and demutualisations, flotations, divestments, share stakes,
strategic alliances and joint ventures
|
Country
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Participants
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Type/value
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Description
|
Date
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Europe, Middle East,
Africa
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UK
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Royal Bank of Scotland
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Sale of business unit
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Royal Bank of Scotland has sold its
French factoring business to GE Capital, as part of its ongoing
programme to sell non-core assets. Financial terms of the deal were
not disclosed.
|
19 May
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Iraq
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Ashur Bank
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Strategy update
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Iraq’s Ashur International Bank has
said it wants to open Islamic banking services in Iraq as interest
in Sharia-compliant financing continues to grow, according to a
report from the newswire Reuters.
|
18 May
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UK
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Royal Bank of Scotland, American
Express
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Potential sale of business unit
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US credit card giant American Express
has teamed up with UK private equity firm Permira to join the
battle for the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) WorldPay payment
processing business. RBS must sell the unit under the terms of a
European Commission state aid ruling.
|
17 May
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South Africa
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Standard Chartered, Nedbank
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Potential sale of business unit
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Standard Chartered is reportedly
eyeing a majority stake in South Africa-based Nedbank in a drive to
boost its presence in the fast-growing continent. The UK-based but
emerging markets focused bank told RBI it is “laying
strong foundations to become a world-class consumer bank”
(see ‘Super highway’ to
drive customer growth).
|
12 May
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UK
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Royal Bank of Scotland, Virgin
Money
|
Branch sales update
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The UK’s Virgin Money is out of the
race to buy the 318 Royal Bank of Scotland branches being sold by
the majority state-owned lender, after being told informally it was
excluded from the auction on 7 May (see Metro set to open).
|
07 May
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The Americas
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US
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Santander, M&T Bank
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Potential merger
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Merger talks between Santander and
M&T Bank regarding a possible expansion for the Spanish-based
lender in the US have failed. The deal was likely to see M&T
merge with Santander’s US-based subsidiary, Sovereign, bringing the
enlarged unit to more than 1,500 branches and total assets of
around $150bn.
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19 May
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US
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Chicago Bank, General Electric
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Strategy update
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General Electric Co (GE) has agreed to
invest about $20m to help prevent Chicago-based ShoreBank from
failing. GE joins some other major US banks, including Goldman
Sachs and Citigroup, in stepping in ahead of a potential government
takeover.
|
19 May
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US
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Bank of America, Itaú Unibanco
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Sale of business unit
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Bank of America (BofA) has agreed to
sell 188.42m preferred and common shares of Brazil’s Itaú UniBanco
in a deal said to be worth around $4.5bn as part of ongoing efforts
to boost its capital base. Itaú Unibanco bought the local unit of
FleetBoston from BofA in 2006.
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18 May
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US
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Toronto-Dominion Bank
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Merger
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Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), Canada’s
second-largest bank by assets, has agreed to buy South Financial
Group for $191.6m in cash or stock, allowing TD to expand its
recently acquired Florida base, including Riverside National Bank
acquired in April.
|
17 May
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US
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Midwest Bank and Trust Company
|
Bank failure
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Illinois-based Midwest Bank and Trust
Company has been shut down by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC). The 23 branches of Midwest Bank reopened as
branches of Firstmerit Bank, with the closure bringing the number
of bank failures in the US in the year to 72 to date. In 2009, 140
US banks failed following the collapse of 25 lenders in 2008. The
FDIC also reported that the number of so-called problem banks rose
to 775 in the first quarter, from 702 in the last quarter of
2009.
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14 May
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Columbia
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Banco Davivienda
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Initial public offering
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Colombia’s third largest bank by
assets, Banco Davivienda, is to carry out an initial public
offering (IPO) in the local market, according to a bank filing to
the local market regulator. The IPO would be the first since Helm
Bank (see Helm – the world’s first multi-sensory bank)
floated a 15% stake on the local stock exchange in December
2007.
|
30 Apr
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Asia-Pacific
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Indonesia
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Bank Panin
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Stake sale
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The Gunawan family, which controls 46%
of Indonesia’s Bank Panin, is looking to sell its entire holding
worth around $1.4bn. Australia’s ANZ is reported to be the
front-runner to acquire the stake.
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19 May
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Japan
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Shinsei, Aozora Bank
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Merger breakdown
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Mid-sized Japanese lender Shinsei has
confirmed rumours it has scrapped its proposed merger with rival
Aozora, after a breakdown in talks.
|
15 May
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Japan
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Mizuho Financial Group
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Rights issue
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Mizuho Financial Group, Japan’s
second-largest bank, plans to issue about ¥800bn ($8.7bn) of common
shares to meet stricter capital requirements, according to a
Reuters report.
|
10 May
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Source: RBI
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