DBS Group Holdings and Julius Baer Gruppe are weighing bids for Dutch lender ABN AMRO Group’s Asia private banking business that manages about $20 billion in assets, several people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
ABN AMRO, which has hired Lazard Ltd to advise on the possible sale, could also receive preliminary bids from other wealth managers, the people said, adding the first-round bids are due in the next few weeks.
The Dutch bank’s plan to exit the private banking business in Asia comes after several such exits by Western firms since the 2008 financial crisis – hit by pressure to reduce costs at home, slowing growth in the region and rising compliance costs.
ABN AMRO declined to comment on the sale process, but said in an emailed statement it had cut more than 20 jobs in Hong Kong and Singapore in the past few months to make its business “more efficient”.
DBS, Julius Baer, and Lazard declined to comment. The sources did not want to be named as the talks are confidential. (Reporting by Saeed Azhar and Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Sam Holmes).
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Source: Reuters.com
