ING Group of the Netherlands struck a deal to take over Barings, a week after England's oldest investment bank collapsed over bad futures gambling in Asia, it was announced Sunday.
ING beat out a bid put together by rival Dutch bankers ABN Amro and U.S. investment bank Smith Barney. The deal was announced by court-appointed administrators who had been in control of Barings since last Monday.ING had earlier made a tentative offer to pay 1 pound ($1.60) for Barings - but it would have to assume liabilities stretching into the hundreds of millions.
A source who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said it wasn't certain if those terms were included in the final deal, which will be presented on Monday to a High Court judge in London.
The world's top bankers had been anxiously wondering whether a Barings deal could be completed before Asian financial markets opened Monday.
Last week, they were focused on a vain attempt by the Bank of England to rescue Barings from collapse. This week, they wondered whether the busted bank would be sold off by outside administrators who are now in charge.
Court-appointed administrators had hoped that ING Group, a big financial and insurance concern, would proceed with a bid to acquire all of Barings. That would allow them to dispose of a messy situation all at once, leaving it to ING to clean things up.