KARACHI (Dow Jones)-Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) said
Thursday it has restarted the process for the proposed sale of its
local operations in Pakistan.
RBS is identifying potential bidders for the sale and, subject
to obtaining requisite regulatory approvals, such potential bidders
may be invited to and may conduct due diligence on RBS Pakistan, it
said in a statement to the Karachi Stock Exchange.
This is the second attempt by RBS to sell its 99.37% ownership
interest in RBS Pakistan.
On Jan. 1, MCB Bank Ltd. (MCB.KA) had said its deal to acquire
RBS Pakistan lapsed because it couldn't get some regulatory
clearances.
RBS had in February last year announced a three- to five-year
plan to sell non-core assets. It had identified its Asia assets as
well as a number of businesses related to the loss-making global
banking and markets unit for sale.
-By Haris Zamir, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; +91 22
6145 6123; shikhar.balwani@dowjones.com