ANZ hires Morgan Stanley as acquisition adviser

ANZ eager to acquire Bank Panin for $1.3bln as Gunawan family sells 46% of Indonesian lender.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has hired Morgan Stanley to advise it on buying a controlling stake in Indonesia's PT Bank Panin worth $1.3 billion, two sources with knowledge of the process said on Monday.

The Gunawan family, which controls 46 percent of Bank Panin, is looking to sell its stake and the hiring of an adviser reinforces expectations that ANZ, which already owns 38.5 percent of the Indonesian bank, will buy the stake on offer.

A spokesman for ANZ, Australia's fourth-largest bank, declined to comment and so did Morgan Stanley.

View the full story in Reuters.