Banking: StanChart to return to South Africa?
Way back in the mists of time, UK banks were told they had to leave South Africa because of sanctions against the apartheid regime. And both Barclays and Standard Chartered left behind substantial interests. The operations they left have had mixed fortunes as competition flourished.
Barclays has already returned: it bought a controlling interest in ABSA in 2005. That was, perhaps, the jewel in South Africa's banking crown. But it's not the only good business. StanChart has not pursued its former affliate: Standard Bank. Instead it has, accourding to City rumour, made an offer to SA's largest insurer, Old Mutual, the latter's stake in Nedbank.
That rumour had an immediate positive impact on the shares of Old Mutual and StanChart.
But Old Mutual says it is not in takeover talks for Nedbank - and StanChart has issued its standard statement: it does not comment on market rumour.
But Old Mutual is divesting itself of non-core assets although it has previously said it does not envisage a sale of Nedbank.
By South African standards, Nedbank is large but even so in the scale of even domestic US banks it is small with an estimated asset base of only some USD10,000 million - a size at which many US banks have failed in the last year or so.
The Old Mutual holding is a 54% majority.
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