NAB to decide on future of AXA bid
(13 September 2010 – Australia) National Australia Bank will spend the next few days deciding on the future of its knocked back bid for wealth manager Axa Asia Pacific after the ACCC’s decision was revealed last week.
The re-evaluation of the bid comes as speculation mounts that rival AMP will reignite its bid for the wealth manager.
National Australia Bank’s head of wealth management, Steve Tucker, told The Australian over the weekend that while all options were being considered, any further compromises the meet the ACCC’s hurdles risked diluting the value of the deal.
Last week the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission declined the bank’s new bid, which involved selling Axa’s investment platform North to IOOF for A$5 million and providing the firm with financial and technological support.
This was the second bid to be rejected by the regulator, after NAB submitted its original proposal in April, which the ACCC declined citing a lessening of market competition.
Mr Tucker told the ABC’s Inside Business program that the bank has worked hard with them over the last few months to come up with a package that we thought would satisfy their concerns.
You have to be careful to get the balance between satisfying the concerns of the ACCC and keeping the integrity of the value of the deal in place, Mr Tucker highlighted.
The group thought they had achieved that with a good package and is disappointed to get the latest decision, Mr Tucker added.
NAB's options are to challenge the ACCC's decision in court, to submit a revised proposal divesting more Axa assets or to walk away from the offer.
National Australia Bank’s head of wealth management, Steve Tucker, told The Australian over the weekend that while all options were being considered, any further compromises the meet the ACCC’s hurdles risked diluting the value of the deal.
Last week the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission declined the bank’s new bid, which involved selling Axa’s investment platform North to IOOF for A$5 million and providing the firm with financial and technological support.
This was the second bid to be rejected by the regulator, after NAB submitted its original proposal in April, which the ACCC declined citing a lessening of market competition.
Mr Tucker told the ABC’s Inside Business program that the bank has worked hard with them over the last few months to come up with a package that we thought would satisfy their concerns.
You have to be careful to get the balance between satisfying the concerns of the ACCC and keeping the integrity of the value of the deal in place, Mr Tucker highlighted.
The group thought they had achieved that with a good package and is disappointed to get the latest decision, Mr Tucker added.
NAB's options are to challenge the ACCC's decision in court, to submit a revised proposal divesting more Axa assets or to walk away from the offer.
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