ACCC Reviews National Australia Bank Proposed Bid For AXA APH
January 19 2010 - 4:27PM
Dow Jones News
Australia's competition watchdog said Wednesday it has begun an
informal review of National Australia Bank Ltd.'s (NAB) proposed
A$13.3 billion acquisition of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd.
(AXA.AU).
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission said on its
website that it proposes to announce its findings on the matter on
March 18.
NAB unveiled its proposed A$6.43 a share bid on Dec. 17,
upstaging a rival offer from Australia's second-largest fund
manager, AMP Ltd. (AMP.AU). NAB must now convince AXA SA (AXA),
which owns 53.9% of AXA Asia Pacific, to join it in the proposal,
as AXA SA had previously backed AMP's offer.
The regulator had previously said it was "monitoring" the
proposal as it waited for submissions from NAB.
"NAB has sought ACCC clearance regarding its proposed
acquisition of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd.'s Australian and New
Zealand businesses," said the ACCC in a statement.
The ACCC noted that NAB and AXA Asia Pacific overlap in the
areas of life insurance, superannuation--or pension--products,
wealth management and financial planning and advisory services.
AXA SA is locked in an exclusivity deal with AMP until Feb. 6,
and is expected to start talks with NAB soon after.
The ACCC is also conducting an informal review of AMP's
proposal, despite it being rejected by AXA APH's independent
directors who backed the NAB plan.
The regulator is due to report its findings on the AMP proposal
on Feb. 10.
-By Rebecca Thurlow, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4679;
rebecca.thurlow@dowjones.com
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