ANZ seen to bid for entire KEB stake

Nomura “would be surprised” if ANZ is not considering making takeover bid after lender raises $1.6mln.

Talk of ANZ raising equity for the deal, first revealed by The Australian, is growing, with Goldman Sachs analyst Ben Koo also telling clients on Wednesday  that ANZ could raise $1bn, despite having sufficient capital to keep its tier-one capital ratio, which stands at 10.3 per cent.

ANZ is conducting due diligence on a 57 per cent stake in KEB owned by US private equity firm Lone Star and Export Import Bank of Korea, after confirming its interest in August.

Nomura analyst Victor German said the Japanese investment bank expects ANZ to raise $1.6bn, and “would be surprised” if ANZ is not considering making a full bid for 100 per cent of KEB.

His equity calculations are based on an acquisition price of 1 times price-to-book value.

“Under the new Basel III rules, ANZ would need to raise about $1.6bn for a 57 per cent stake and about $3bn for a 100 per cent stake,” Mr German said.

“If ANZ is successful, we believe it would look to increase its stake over time.

View the full story in The Australian.