ANZ quits Korea Exchange Bank bid due to conflicts

ANZ leaves Nomura and MBK Partners as bidders due to tension between North and South Koreas.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) is no longer interested in Lone Star's 51 per cent stake in Korea Exchange Bank, a report said on Wednesday.

The report in the Financial News, citing unnamed sources, said ANZ decided not to bid for KEB or Indonesia's PT Bank Panin Indonesia after conducting due diligence on both firms. Part of the decision on KEB was due to geopolitical tensions between the two Koreas, the report added.

Lone Star launched the sale of its KEB stake, valued at $US3.3 billion, in March, according to a report in The Australian.

ANZ is the only firm to have publicly acknowledged interest in KEB, though a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires that Japanese bank Nomura is considering a joint bid with private equity fund MBK Partners.