ING has received up to five bids for some or all of its private bank assets up for sale, a source familiar with the sale process said on Thursday, with bids for the full package running close to $2 billion. The source said bids had been submitted for the Asian private banking unit, but were still coming in as of Thursday afternoon for the Swiss operations.
There was also the possibility that some bids could come in after what had been a Thursday deadline, the source said. ING declined to comment. The bidding, the source said, is split roughly evenly between those who want one piece of the package or another and those bidding for the whole thing.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the deal told Reuters that DBS Group, Southeast Asia's biggest bank, made a bid to buy the Asian private banking unit. Lazard Ltd is advising Singapore's DBS, three sources told Reuters. It was not known immediately how much DBS has offered for these assets. One of the sources said DBS will be "conservative" in its bid.