--Three bidders in final stage of auction
--Russia's Sberbank bought Turkey's DenizBank for up to EUR3.09
billion in May
--Dexia chief executive and chairman resign
Franco-Belgian lender Dexia SA (DEXB.BT) said Wednesday it is
entering final negotiations on the sale of Dexia Asset Management
with three international bidders.
The sale will be the final stage in the bank's dismantling
program, which began last October. In nine months, Dexia has made
six asset sales for a total value of about 8.7 billion euros ($10.9
billion), it said.
Dexia didn't identify the remaining bidders but reports have
previously suggested that Australia's Macquarie Group Ltd.
(MQG.AU), Affiliated Managers Group Inc. (AMG), Federated Investors
Inc. (FII) and New York Life Insurance Co. were interested.
Earlier potential buyers, including buyout firms CVC Capital
Partners, Advent International and Permira, dropped out of the
process in May.
Barclays PLC (BCS) is running the sale of the business, which
could fetch as much as EUR750 million.
Dexia also said Wednesday that its board has accepted the
resignation of Jean-Luc Dehaene as chairman of the board of Dexia
SA as of July 1. Karel De Boeck, already a member of the board, has
been appointed interim chairman.
The bank also confirmed that Chief Executive Pierre Mariani has
handed in his resignation, but will continue to fulfill his duties
until approval of the semi-annual 2012 accounts.
Earlier this month Russia's Sberbank clinched the purchase of
Dexia's Turkish business DenizBank for up to EUR3.09 billion. The
deal was Sberbank's largest ever acquisition, designed to diversify
the bank away from its home market where it already dominates.
Write to William Horobin at william.horobin@dowjones.com