(13 August 2008 – Australia) Commonwealth Bank has announced that it has withdrawn from discussions to acquire ABN Amro Australia.Only last month, CBA announced that it was in talks with Royal Bank of Scotland to acquire ABN AMRO Australia Holdings Pty Ltd (ABN AMRO).
CBA and RBS then entered into a period of exclusivity around negotiations and due diligence. The deal being discussed is in the range of $450 million to $500 million.
CBA has now, on the day of its full year profit announcement, withdrawn from discussions with Royal Bank of Scotland to acquire ABN AMRO Australia.
Further, CBA advised that it has made this decision after a board assessment of the current economic climate. The uncertainty in world financial markets and the risks involved in integrating these complex businesses was described as the major issue.
CBA said that it believed that given these factors it would not be in the best interests of shareholders to proceed with the acquisition in this environment.
Going forward, CBA said that it will continue to fully focus its efforts in the Institutional Banking & Markets area on further organic growth and on being providing a full range of innovative and competitive financial solutions for its institutional and corporate customers.