HSBC Bids for ING Assets: Report

According to a report from The Times of London, HSBC has placed a bid for ING private banking assets worth more than 1 billion pounds.

Author:: David Moss
Publish date:: Sep 8, 2009 10:19 AM EDT

AMSTERDAM (

TheStreet

) -- Last week,

reports surfaced that

ING

(ING) - Get Report

was taking bids for some private banking assets. And according to reports over the weekend, we can add another name to the list of bidders.

The Sunday Times

reported that

HSBC

(HBC)

has placed an estimated 1 billion pound-plus offer for the assets. Other bidders include Swiss outfit

Julius Baer

and Singaporean operation

DBS

The report added that the next ten days will likely see a preferred bidder emerge from the process.

According to multiple reports, ING's private banking assets in Switzerland and Asia are on the for-sale block in an effort to pay off financial bailout money owed to the Dutch government.

The Times

added that ING is considering breaking apart its insurance operations from its banking business, too.

The Times

said DBS is in the running for the Asian group, while Julius Baer is said to be interested in both pieces. It's unclear, however, whether HSBC is interested in just one or both organizations.

-- Written by Sung Moss in New York

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