JP Morgan’s reported $4bn bid for Royal Bank of Scotland’s stake in Sempra Commodities is startlingly high, a senior commodities analyst has told Futures and Options Intelligence.
Reuters reported today (January 20) that JP Morgan was now in exclusive talks with RBS, after Deutsche Bank and Macquarie pulled out of the running. A price of around $4bn has been quoted for the stake, which cost RBS $1.7bn in 2008. The price has not been confirmed, however.
RBS has been forced to sell its 51% stake in the joint venture with San Diego-based Sempra Energy as part of the price exacted by EU competition authorities for its rescue last year by the UK government.
“The thing everyone’s gobsmacked about is the $4bn price tag,” said Robin Bhar, a senior metals analyst at Calyon. “We were just open-mouthed.”...