Julius Baer out of race for ING Asian unit

Julius Baer has dropped out of the race to buy ING's private banking assets in Asia, leaving HSBC as the favourite, sources with knowledge of the deal told Reuters. Despite holding most bids since September 3, Dutch bancassurer ING has not yet identified a preferred bidder, two of the sources said, adding a deal is expected in October.
ING received up to five bids for some or all of its private banking assets, with an offer for the full package - its Asian and Swiss units - running close to $2 billion, sources familiar with the bidding process told Reuters earlier this month.
However, it is not clear if ING expects to get the same level of proceeds if it sells the units separately to different buyers. They were marketed separately, but about half of the bids came in for both units together, sources have said. "Julius Baer is no more looking at Asia," said one of the sources with knowledge of the deal, adding HSBC is the strongest contender for these assets. Singapore's DBS Group had also bid for the Asian assets, sources have said. ING, Julius Baer, HSBC and DBS declined to comment.