UPDATE 1-WestLB gets bids as revamp deadline looms
* Sales agent Merz says several bids received
* EU deadline for restructuring deal is Feb. 15
* WestLB to cut assets to 60 bln eur from 220 bln -sources
* New WestLB to have 1-2 bln in equity, 10-11 bln in RWAs
(Adds details, background)
By Arno Schuetze and Matthias Inverardi
FRANKFURT, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Ailing German lender WestLB [WDLG.UL] has received several bids, its official sales agent said, as the bank enters the final stretch to present a restructuring plan to the European Commission.
"The bidders are interested in the whole landesbank", said Friedrich Merz, who has been appointed by WestLB's owners to oversee the sale of the Duesseldorf-based lender.
But sources close to the bank said that although four non-binding bids from strategic players and private equity investors have been tendered, none of the bidders will end up buying the whole lender. Instead, they will only try to pick up parts of it at later stages of the process.
WestLB, partially owned by the German state of and local savings banks, has been put on the block a condition for European Union approval of state aid granted to the bank in the financial crisis.
In January, Merz said he had received several tentative bids for the lender, which the EU said must be sold this year.
Financial sources say private equity investors Apollo (
APOL.O), Blackstone (
BX.N) and JC Flowers were among the bidders. [ID:nLDE7091NQ]
The EU also set a Feb. 15 deadline for WestLB to come up with a restructuring plan to make up for state aid in the financial crisis.
According to sources close to the negotiations, WestLB is nearing a deal that will keep key parts under public-sector control, but leave other units to be plucked off by investors.
The bank, which once strove to compete with the likes of Deutsche Bank (
DBKGn.DE), will be reduced to a core that only caters to the municipally owned savings banks, the sources said.
stiamo a vedere. nell'ultimo pomeriggio la euro a corso parecchio sui siti tedeschi, la usd anche è salita ma non nella stessa misura.
let's see
