First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC said it explored a potential bid for Standard Chartered Plc, in what would have been a complex deal aimed at building an emerging markets lender with more than $1 trillion of assets.
The Middle East’s largest bank was previously in the “very early stages of evaluating a possible offer for Standard Chartered” but is no longer doing so, it said in a regulatory filing Thursday. Bloomberg News reported earlier that FAB had been assessing Standard Chartered for more than six months as it considered a potential bid for the London-based lender.
The Abu Dhabi bank had been considering a full takeover of Standard Chartered, according to people familiar with the matter. FAB, as the firm is known, had been working with advisers though no formal approach had been made, the people said, declining to be identified as the deliberations are private.
The Gulf lender was also considering other deal structures, such as an acquisition of parts of the UK-based firm, one of the people said. Any deal faced significant hurdles given the complexity of the transaction, they said. A representative for Standard Chartered declined to comment.
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