Thanachart Bank has held discussions with ING Groep about buying the Dutch financial services company's 31 percent stake TMB Bank Pcl , but no current talks are going on between the two parties, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Thanachart Bank, which is 49 percent owned by Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia, has been interested in acquiring the stake for some time, but Thailand's political stalemate has slowed negotiations, the person added.ING's 31 percent holding in TMB is valued at about $942 million based on Wednesday's closing price. The Dutch financial services firm has been selling its non-core businesses as part of a wider asset programme to pay down the state aid it received during the global financial crisis.A Singapore-based spokesman for ING declined comment, while Thanachart Bank was not available for immediate comment.Finance Asia magazine first reported Thanachart's interest in buying ING's sake.
The Bank of Nova Scotia (the Bank) is a diversified financial institution. Shares of BNS traded higher by 1.1% or $0.6/share to $54.96. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $52.05 and as high as $63.50. On average, 470498 shares of BNS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 679185.
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