Alex Thursby, ANZ’s chief executive
officer for Asia-Pacific, Europe and America, tells Elena Torrijos that a string of recent
deals in Asia illustrate just how important the Australian bank
considers the region. The only major gap in its portfolio is India,
described as a ‘bridge too far’ for the time being

Australia’s ANZ has struck two major deals in
the past few months that underscore the seriousness of its
ambitions to become a “super regional bank” with a significant
presence in Asia-Pacific while keeping focused on its traditional
markets.

Alex Thursby, ANZ’s chief executive officer
for Asia-Pacific, Europe and America, explained the bank’s strategy
in light of recent developments, telling RBI: “Our aspiration is
for the Asia-Pacific business to contribute 20 percent of group net
profit after tax by 2012, up from 7 percent in 2007.”

In early August, ANZ agreed to acquire the
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group’s retail, wealth and commercial
businesses in Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong, and the
institutional businesses in Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam for
$550 million.

This was followed in late September by a deal
to purchase the 51 percent shareholding it did not already own in
the ANZ-ING wealth management and life insurance joint ventures in
Australia and New Zealand for $1.56 billion.

On 28 September, ANZ also become the first Australian bank to
open a rural bank in China. The Chongqing Liangping ANZ Rural Bank
Co Ltd is a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of ANZ, with the bank
working toward obtaining local incorporation in China in early 2010
to enable it to provide a broader range of services to local
customers and businesses and expand its branch network. ANZ also
has three own-branded branches in Shanghai, Beijing and
Guangzhou.

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While Thursby stressed that ANZ’s “super
regional” strategy reflects the view that Asia – led by India and
China – will be an engine for global and Australian growth for many
decades to come, the bank did not bid for the RBS businesses for
sale in China and India.

Thursby explained: “In China, we have a
significant, well-developed organic growth plan which is well on
track, and in India, given we are still in the process of applying
for a banking licence, we felt it was a bridge too far for
ANZ.”

He added: “We will continue to consider
inorganic opportunities, but they need to fit our strategy, add
value to shareholders and we have to have the ability to integrate
successfully.”

Thursby said that the bank has a
“predominantly” organic growth strategy in Asia-Pacific.

Indeed, even with the RBS deal, ANZ has been
investing in branches or subsidiaries in the region. The Australian
bank is set to double the capital base of ANZ Vietnam to $112
million this year after receiving approval to do so by Vietnam’s
central bank.

This year it has opened six new outlets in
Vietnam, opened eight new branches in Indonesia and gained approval
for new branches in Beijing and Guangzhou in China.

Thursby also said the bank’s growth strategy
is to leverage bank partnerships in Asia. In Malaysia it has a 20
percent stake in AmBank, and in China it has a 20 percent stake in
Bank of Tianjin and a 19.9 percent stake in Shanghai Rural
Commercial Bank.

And the investments in Asia appear to be
paying off.

The Asia-Pacific, Europe and America
division’s net profit after tax almost doubled in the first half of
its fiscal year ending 30 September 2009 to A$401 million ($363
million) from A$205 million for the second half of the previous
fiscal year.

The division is expected to deliver a further
increase of 60 percent when the 2009 full-year results are
reported.

“We have been investing in growing our
Asia-Pacific business across a range of fronts over the past few
years and these investments are already delivering returns,”
Thursby said.

“Over the past two years in Asia we have grown
from about 2,000 to more than 5,000 employees in our
customer-facing business and we are continuing to support our
growth strategy by adding more talented local staff and building a
leadership team of international bankers with deep Asian
experience.”

ANZ – summary of RBS Asia business being acquired
	Segments	Nos of branches	Customers (000s)	Deposits ($bn)
Taiwan	Retail, commercial & institutional	21(1)	1,300	2.7
Hong Kong	Retail & commercial	6	30	1.6
Singapore	Retail & commercial	5	350	1.9
Indonesia	Retail & commercial	20	450	0.8
Vietnam	Institutional	1	60	0.045
Philippines	Institutional	1	100	0.04
(1) plus 16 licences Source: ANZ

Not forgetting its home market

RBI DealWatch
RBI DealWatch tracks global financial services mergers and acquisitions, privatisations and demutualisations, flotations, divestments, share stakes, strategic alliances and joint ventures.
Country	Participants	Type/value	Description	Date
Europe, Middle East, Africa
France	Société Générale	Capital raising	Société Générale (SocGen) has kicked off a €4.8 billion ($7.1 billion) cash call, with €3.4 billion of the proceeds earmarked to repay the French government’s stake bought at the height of the economic crisis. SocGen also announced that it is in talks to buy the remaining 20 percent it does not own of French regional retail bank Crédit du Nord from Belgium-based Dexia.	5 Oct
UK	Barclays, Standard Life Bank	Unit sale	UK insurance group Standard Life is rumoured to be discussing the sale of its mortgage-focused banking unit, estimated to be worth around £200 million ($319 million) to £300 million, with Barclays.	4 Oct
Switzerland	Commerzbank	Unit sale	Commerzbank has concluded the sale of private banking arm Commerzbank (Switzerland) to the Vontobel Group. At the end of 2008, the unit managed assets of CHF4.5 billion ($4.4 billion).	2 Oct
The Netherlands	Fortis Bank Nederland, BNP Paribas	Business divestment	The Dutch government is considering a sale of some assets of Fortis Bank Nederland, including Fortis Commercial Banking and Commercial Finance, to BNP Paribas, according to Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad.	29 Sep
France	BNP Paribas	Capital raising	BNP Paribas is to raise capital of around €4.3 billion as part of a move to reimburse the French government’s €5.1 billion capital advance. According to the bank, the capital increase will be an underwritten rights issue with preferential subscription rights for ordinary shareholders.	29 Sep
The Netherlands	Rabobank, Eureko	Strategy update	Rabobank and insurer Eureko have reached agreement on intensifying their successful commercial cooperation. Eureko and its two largest shareholders, Rabobank and Vereniging Achmea, have also extended their existing agreement relating to an intention to merge.	24 Sep
Israel	Bank Leumi	Stake sale	According to local reports, Israel’s Finance Ministry has decided to sell the government’s 10.3 percent stake in Bank Leumi – the country’s largest bank – in a deal that could be worth up to $540 million.	23 Sep
The Americas
Brazil	Santander	Initial public offering	Banco Santander (Brazil), the Brazilian division of Spain’s Santander has sold more than $6.9 billion of shares in an IPO, setting a record for a Brazilian new listing. Around 70 percent of the proceeds have been earmarked to boost its branch network in the country by 600 branches in the south and south-east of the country and increase lending (see RBI 619).	8 Oct
Americas (continued)
Country	Participants	Type/value	Description	Date
US	Southern Colorado National Bank	Bank failures	98 banks have now failed in the US in 2009. Southern Colorado National Bank became the latest to close, with Legacy Bank assuming all of the deposits of Southern Colorado. The failed bank had total assets of $39.5 million and total deposits of approximately $31.9 million.	8 Oct
US	China Minsheng Banking Corporation, UCBH	Stake increase	According to a report by Bloomberg, China Minsheng Banking Corporation is weighing plans to increase its stake in California-based UCBH Holdings. The Chinese group is looking to up its holding to at least 50 percent from 9.6 percent. UCBH, once touted as one of the more dynamic Californian banks, has suffered badly during the US economic crisis, with its shares losing around 90 percent in value and pushing the bank’s market value to $100 million. United Commercial Bank, the core commercial banking subsidiary of UCBH Holdings, is aimed primarily at Chinese communities in the US and US companies doing business in Greater China.	6 Oct
US	UBS, Paine Webber	Strategy update	UBS has corrected press reports suggesting its US-based wealth management operation Paine Webber had been placed on the market, adding that it had received offers for the business but had “not taken any of them seriously”.	28 Sep
Asia-Pacific
China	Central Huijin Investment, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank	Stake acquisitions	Central Huijin Investment, a large Chinese sovereign wealth fund, has committed to buying further shares in the country’s three largest public banks – Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank – following recent share purchases which took its ownership in the three banks to 35.42 percent, 67.53 percent and 57.09 percent, respectively.	12 Oct
South Korea	Woori Finance Holding	Government sale	The South Korean government, which owns 73 percent of Woori Finance Holdings, is planning to sell a 7 percent stake in the holding company within the year if market conditions permit.	9 Oct
Thailand	Thanachart Bank, Siam City Bank	Rights issue, acquisition	Thailand’s Thanachart Bank has proposed a rights issue to raise THB40 billion ($1.2 billion) to fund the purchase of Siam City Bank.	7 Oct
India, China, Malaysia	Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered	Unit sales abandoned	Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Scotland Group have failed to agree a price for the sale of RBS’ assets in India, China and Malaysia. HSBC has been linked to the deal as a possible acquirer, as has ANZ.	5 Oct
Australia	National Australia Bank	Strategy update	National Australia Bank has said it is only interested in “bolt-on or incremental” deals following UK press reports linking it with a possible bid for UK insurer Legal & General.	2 Oct
Japan	Citigroup, Sumitomo Trust, Nomura, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation	Unit sales	Citigroup has completed sales of its various Japanese investment banking and asset management units to Sumitomo Trust, Nomura, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, raising $10 billion in the process. The divestments represent a stiff about-turn in Citigroup’s plans to dominate the Japanese institutional and commercial banking markets. The deal to sell Nikko Cordial Securities to Sumitomo Mitsui is the biggest of the three: the transaction carries a total cash value to Citi of ¥776 billion ($8.7 billion). A total of about 7,800 employees are included in the deal.	2 Oct
China	Agricultural Bank of China	Initial Public Offering	Agricultural Bank of China has not decided when and where to hold its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO), an executive told Reuters in an interview. The comments by Pan Gongsheng, vice-president in charge of its restructuring and listing, came in response to a report by the South China Morning Post, which said the bank planned to list shares only in Shanghai and not in Hong Kong.	28 Sep
Australia	ING, ANZ	Unit sale	ING is selling its 51 percent stake in a wealth management joint venture to partner ANZ for $1.6 billion (see main story). ING is continuing to dispose of non-core assets as part of a major divestment plan outlined in April this year (see RBI 610). It has also announced plans to sell its Swiss private banking operation to Bank Julius Baer for $500 million.	25 Sep
Australia	Westpac, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and ANZ	Four Pillars policy update	Australia’s ‘four pillars’ competition policy, originally introduced in 1990 to blocks mergers between the country’s four largest banks – Westpac, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and ANZ – should stay in force, according to an Australian senate enquiry. While the Big Four, in particular ANZ and Westpac, have argued that the strategy – designed to promote competition and protect consumers – prevents them from competing on the global stage, it has been credited with limiting the effects of the global banking crisis spreading to Australia.	17 Sep
Singapore	UOB	Unit sale	Singapore’s United Overseas Bank is selling its life insurance unit in an effort to shed a non-core asset and raise up to $500 million.	11 Sep
Source: RBI