Royal Bank of Scotland Sells Asian Units to ANZ

HONG KONG — The Royal Bank of Scotland sold parts of its Asian operations to a rival, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, on Tuesday for $550 million, a move that helped the stricken British lender raise much-needed cash and allowed ANZ to broaden its profile in Asia.

ANZ, one of Australia’s four largest banks, is buying Royal Bank of Scotland’s retail, wealth and commercial businesses in Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong, and the institutional businesses in Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The purchase will give ANZ access to 54 branches, $3.2 billion in loans and $7.1 billion in deposits serving about two million customers, and represents what ANZ called a “steppingstone” in an expansion strategy under which it will derive 20 percent of its earnings from Asia by 2012.

The units “complement ANZ’s businesses across Greater China, Indochina and South East Asia and provide our franchise with further growth momentum,” Michael Smith, ANZ’s chief executive, said in a statement.

The acquisition is also the latest example of a financial institution in the Asia-Pacific region buying assets sold by troubled American and European institutions.

In Japan, Citigroup recently sold its local asset management, brokerage and other operations to Japanese rivals, and Nomura bought the Asian assets of the collapsed investment bank Lehman Brothers last year.

Lenders in the Asia-Pacific region largely steered clear of the complex mortgage-related financial instruments that dragged down many of their American and European counterparts, and though the assets of many have declined as the recession has continued, the region has not had large collapses or state bailouts.

Royal Bank of Scotland, by contrast, posted a substantial loss last year, prompting a government bailout, and plans to divest itself of or shrink operations in Asia. Assets still for sale include operations in China and India.

The bank said in a statement that it remained “in advanced discussions with bidders for the remaining assets it has decided to sell in Asia and will make further announcements, as appropriate, in due course.”