National Australia Bank (NAB), Australia's most profitable banking group, is looking at a range of deals in Britain in the wake of the $2.75 billion (€3.3 billion) sale of its US subsidiary to Dutch bank ABN Amro. NAB - which owns National Irish Bank and Northern Bank in Ireland, and the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks in Britain - yesterday confirmed it would use some of the cash from the sale of Michigan National Corporation to expand in Britain.
The group first hinted at its strategy for Britain in its annual report, when Mr Frank Cicutto, NAB chief executive, wrote that the bank's strategies were flexible enough that it could leverage its assets "through alliances, mergers or acquisitions", or by "divesting assets which do not meet our financial or strategic objectives".
An option under discussion is an asset swap with Bank of Scotland, currently in merger discussions with Abbey National, the UK's second-largest mortgage lender. Under this plan, Bank of Scotland would give NAB its 55 per cent stake in Bank of Western Australia, in return for a stake in Yorkshire and Clydesdale.
This route would give NAB access to the London market through a dual listing. NAB could also use MLC, the fund management business it acquired earlier this year, as a platform into private banking.
NAB is also thought to be looking at tie-ups with mortgage banks in the UK.
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