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Bloomberg
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. recently hired Morgan Stanley to help sell its stake in Indonesian lender PT Bank Pan Indonesia, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
ANZ, which has long been seeking to divest its Bank Panin holding, plans to start gauging interest again from potential private equity and strategic buyers, the people said, asking not to be identified because the process is private.
The 38.8 percent holding is valued at $578 million based on Wednesday’s close, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The Australian lender made attempts to offload the stake at least since 2013, when new regulations made it more expensive to hold minority overseas investments.
Bank Panin is controlled by Indonesia’s Gunawan family, whose reluctance to give a board seat to an incoming investor has stymied earlier negotiations with suitors, people familiar with the matter have said.
The stake had attracted interest from potential acquirers including Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., people familiar said earlier.
A spokesman for Melbourne-based ANZ declined to comment, while a representative for Morgan Stanley didn’t immediately reply to emailed queries.