Nedbank Share Price Rises On Takeover Report - I-Net

8th Jul 2010 12:21

JOHANNESBURG (I-Net Bridge)--Shares in South African banking company Nedbank Group Ltd. (NED.JO) rose more than 5% Thursday following a report Europe's biggest bank, HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC), is in the early stages of evaluating a bid for it. Sky News reported Thursday that HSBC has appointed investment bank Lazard to advise on a possible takeover deal, which would cost several billions of pounds. HSBC declined to comment on the report, saying it doesn't comment on speculation. Nedbank's majority owner, international long-term savings group Old Mutual PLC (OML.LN), also declined to comment on what it called "market rumors or speculation." Nevertheless, Nedbank's share price increased 5.3% to 133.86 rand per share. At 1053 GMT, the shares were up 3.8% at 132 rand. Earlier this year, it was reported that Standard Chartered PLC (STAN.LN) was interested in buying Old Mutual's stake in Nedbank. Old Mutual said at the time it had received no offers and that, for the time being, it was no longer interested in selling Nedbank. "Nedbank is not being sold," Paul Hanratty, the company's London-based chief executive officer for long-term savings, said on a recent visit to South Africa. He could not rule out that Nedbank, South Africa's fourth biggest bank, could be sold down the line. "They have new management and want their business to grow and we want to grow our business, which is long-term savings. Down the line it might come to a battle for resources. By that I mean cash resources. "But we'll cross the bridge when we come to it," Hanratty said. I-Net Bridge, Tel: +27 11 280 0735, [email protected] Copyright 2010 I-Net Bridge. All rights reserved (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 08, 2010 07:21 ET (11:21 GMT)