Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the country’s largest bank, is in talks with Royal Bank of Scotland to buy ABN Amro’s Australian and New Zealand unit, a day after National Australia Bank ended talks on a potential deal, reports Bloomberg. NAB pulled out of the talks on Tuesday, just over a week after announcing it was in negotiations, reports Reuters. RBS led a consortium of banks in the takeover of Dutch rival ABN last year and is selling the Australian unit in a drive to restore its balance sheet. Another potential bidder, Japan’s Nomura, is also reported to remain in the running for the Australian unit, valued at around A$800m ($784m), but the withdrawal of a high-profile suitor is likely to focus attention again on RBS’s planned asset sales, as interest in its insurance unit dwindles.
