Temasek said to study alternatives on Standard Chartered stake
Standard Chartered's shareholder Temasek, the Singapore-based sovereign fund, is mulling alternatives for its stake in the UK-based bank which include a potential sale, DealStreetAsia reported.
The item, which cited unspecific sources, said that potential acquirers for Temasek's roughly 18% stake in Standard Chartered were sounded out last year.
Citing a report in Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, the item said Temasek has been approached by Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. It added that the UK bank could be merged with DBS Bank, a Singapore-based lender, as another option.
ANZ, an Australian bank, was reported in late 2014 to be potentially looking into a purchase of Standard Chartered, the report said without naming the media report.
A related reported in the Financial Times on 1 January also mentioned that ICBC and BOC were among major Chinese state-controlled lenders that had approached Temasek in the past for its Standard Chartered stake. The paper didn't cite its source.
However, the item said that Temasek should maintain its stake until a bank from China approaches it again or Standard Chartered rebounds from its problems.
DealStreetAsia, Financial Times