Macquarie Group, Principal Financial Group (PFG) in the US and Singapore based United Overseas Bank have submitted their bids to takeover ING’s Asian asset management business.
The deal is expected to be valued at $500m to $600m, as reported by Reuters.
Dutch underwriter is disposing its Asian asset management and insurance businesses for almost $7bn, in order to repay the state bailout it received during the 2008 global crisis.
The proposed sale is in line with a restructuring requirements agreement with the European Commission, which was inked prior to receiving approval for a government aid during the financial crisis in November 2008.
Japan's Nikko Asset Management and South Korea's Hanwha Group have also submitted their bid proposals in the first round of the proposed sale.
Potential buyers that include Ameriprise Financial (AMP), two Japanese financial conglomerates and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) have also submitted indicative bids, the news agency said citing industry sources.
According to the latest company filing, ING manages approximately EUR43.3bn ($56.1bn) of assets in the Asia-Pacific region and operates in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.