SYDNEY: Germany's BMW AG, Australia's Macquarie Group and a host of US private equity firms are expected to bid for Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's more than $6 billion car and equipment loan book, a source said on Monday.
The automaker and Australia's top investment bank have requested information memorandums for the sale, as have buyout firms TPG, Blackstone and Carlyle, said the source who is involved in the process.
The sale is expected to fetch a price higher than the A$8.3 billion ($6.35 billion) book value of the loans, the source told Reuters.
The strong global interest, even as world financial markets tumbled on concerns of a Greek default, suggests the sale will achieve its purpose of helping Australia's third-largest lender meet tough new requirements for higher cash reserves.
Representatives of BMW, Macquarie, TPG, Carlyle and Blackstone were not immediately available to comment.
Another source involved in the process told Reuters that bankers running the sale were expected to compile a shortlist of bidders within a week, after first-round offers closed on Monday.
The bankers are then expected to open the unit's books for due diligence, a process expected to last about seven weeks, before calling for final offers, the source added.
Both sources could not be identified as the discussions were private.
Earlier this month, No.2-ranked Westpac Banking Corp announced a stake sale in its wealth management arm BT Investment Management in an effort to boost capital ratios.
In March, the Australian arm of GE Capital sold its consumer finance business to private equity firm KKR & Co LP for A$8.2 billion.
The Esanda sale is being run by Deutsche Bank, which declined comment. ANZ also declined comment.
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