(January 24 – 15:45 ET) – ABN Amro has the inside track on acquiring the North American operations of ING Barings according to the Financial Times.

Barings’ parent Dutch banking giant ING Group said last year that it is abandoning attempts to compete in the U.S. investment banking business because the capital requirements have become too large.

The FT says that ABN Amro is set to offer about US$200 million for Barings’s U.S. operations. “No deal has been struck and the talks could still fall apart. But the two sides are understood to be working towards an announcement next week,” says the FT.

Under the terms of the deal being contemplated, ING would retain an office of about 500 employees in North America to serve its European corporate clients. It would also retain its North American money management business.

The FT also says that Merrill Lynch & Co. has had a look at possibly buying Barings, while Reuters is reporting that Bank of Montreal has also been sniffing around, as has Bear Stearns.

Both ING and ABN Amro declined to comment for the story.
-IE Staff