National Australia Bank Ltd
(ASX:NAB) has reportedly dropped out of the race for Royal Bank of Scotland’s 318 British bank branches.
Reports in the British press suggest NAB has abandoned its pursuit of Royal Bank of Scotland to focus on its efforts to take over wealth manager AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd and because of ongoing market volatility in Europe.
The news comes as the bank announces that it is in preliminary talks with potential buyers of the North investment platform in an effort to gain regulatory approval to purchase AXA Asia Pacific.
The Australian newspaper reports that the bank is negotiating with IOOF Holdings, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd and Perpetual to sell the North platform.
However, NAB says it is not clear whether the sale would address concerns that led the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to block the deal in April.
For the 12 months to September 30, 2009, National Australia Bank reported a profit of $2.589 billion.
