ANZ’s Asian assets disposal to end quiet deals period

After First State Super recently won the $1 billion race for financial planning business StatePlus and National Australia Bank completed its asset sale program, deals have gone a bit quiet in the financial sector.

But that’s all about to change come July 18, when former Greenhill Australia co-head Michelle Jablko starts at ANZ as chief financial officer and gets to work on disposing of the bank’s minority investments in a handful of Asian banks.

It will be no easy task, with ANZ having tried for years to offload the group’s $5.4bn of “partnerships”, or equity stakes, in banks including Indonesia’s Panin Bank, Malaysia’s AmBank, Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, Bank of Tianjin and Metrobank Card Corporation in The Philippines.

Like most outsiders, Jablko knows exiting the positions is complex and riddled with issues, such as the 1MDB scandal engulfing AmBank and dealing with the Gunawan family who control Jakarta-based Panin.

But she’s just witnessed the plaudits former NAB CFO and investment banker Craig Drummond received for painfully divesting a swag of low-returning assets and has the benefit of a new CEO in Shayne Elliott keen to clear the decks and build his legacy.

Bank of Tianjin may be easiest, given it recently listed and ANZ opted to dilute its 12 per cent stake by a couple of per cent in the float.

For advisers eyeing some work, ANZ has had Goldman Sachs working away at the exits of Panin and Shanghai Rural for some time, so it will be interesting to see if Jablko keeps the bank on hand, brings in some more help or goes it alone.

ANZ is tight with Deutsche Bank and Flagstaff Partners, the latter recently running the numbers on a demerger of its wealth arm that is now under review. But ANZ has a sizeable internal M&A team and the big banks don’t always seek investment bankers’ advice, partly because they employ plenty themselves.

One at rival Commonwealth Bank is Rob Jesudason, who left Credit Suisse to join the nation’s biggest lender and is now based in Asia as group executive, international financial services, reporting to chief Ian Narev.

It is often forgotten CBA also has capital-sapping investments in Chinese and Vietnamese retail banks, which Jesudason may offload amid pressure on the group’s capital ratio. The other likely deal in the sector is Westpac selling its Hastings infrastructure funds management unit, according to sources.

Of course, investment banks will also be readying for another round of equity raisings by the big banks once regulatory changes are unveiled at the end of the year, particularly Credit Suisse after not winning a single role on any of the $17bn of rights issues last year.