StanChart could buy Singapore's DBS - paper
SINGAPORE, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered
Plc could take over Singapore's DBS Group Holdings , Southeast
Asia's biggest bank, but is not looking for an immediate deal, a
newspaper reported on Monday. Speaking in an interview with daily
Straits Times, Standard Chartered Group Executive Director Kai
Nargolwala was quoted as saying that a takeover of a local bank in
Singapore was not ruled out as long as it made sense
financially.
"You could make a case for it. But I don't think it's something
that's so compelling that it would have to be done as quickly as
possible," the newspaper quoted Nargolwala as saying in reference
to DBS.
In March, Singapore state investment firm Temasek [TEM.UL], which
owns 28 percent of DBS, bought an 11.6 percent stake in Standard
from the estate of late banking tycoon Khoo Teck Puat in a move
that some analysts said could be the first step to a merger with
DBS.
But Nargolwala said Temasek was not in a position to force it to
merge with the Singapore bank, which is itself looking for
acquisitions in Asia, and that the secretive state investment
holding was primarily a financial investor.
"If the two banks decided at some point in time that it makes sense
for them to combine, then that would be up to the management of the
two banks."
Temasek's stake in Standard Chartered is worth about $4.3
billion.
will DBS want to merge with standard chatered?
