NAB Exclusivity Arrangement With AXA Set To Expire

Australian banking major NAB, which is embroiled in an acquisition attempt of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings (APH) has said that negotiations taking place over the proposed asset divestment of APH’s Wealth.net platform were still continuing, despite the fact that the lenders exclusivity agreement with APH expires in a few hours.

NAB’s extended exclusivity agreement with AXA APH and its French parent AXA SA expires at 0001 AEST on Friday. After expiration of the exclusivity arrangement, both APH and AXA SA are then free to terminate the agreement and begin negotiations with other interested bidders.

Sydney based Australian wealth manager AMP is still considering whether it intends to submit an improved bid to APH’s board, after its initial bid which valued APH at $12.85 billion lapsed.

NAB, whose initial bid was rejected by the competition regulator on the grounds that competition would be stifled within the wealth management space was granted an extension to the original exclusivity arrangement on June 1st, to allow the lender more time to address the regulators concern and win its approval for the deal.

A spokesperson for Australia’s third largest bank told the APP that discussions with third parties over the possible sale of APH’s North and Wealth.net platforms were indeed “progressing”, but that he could not comment on what stage the negotiations were at.

NAB also remains in talks with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which on June 25 said there still was no new information that could be released.

The regulator hat still not published its public competition assessment, which is a report that provides insight into why it failed to give its approval for the proposed NAB acquisition. The regulator has not set any date for its disclosure.

The ACCC rejected NAB’s bid on the grounds the deal would substantially lessen competition for retail investment platforms for investors with complex investment needs.

Compare Australian Credit Card Deals