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Hypo-Vereinsbank shares up on renewed reports of merger talks with Bank Austria |
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July 22, 2000
FRANKFURT (AP) - Shares in Germany's second largest bank, Bayerische Hypo-Vereinsbank, jumped up Friday on reports that talks were nearing agreement for a takeover of Bank Austria. A full-scale merger would create a bank with dlrs 700 billion in assets, just shy of Germany's No. 1 lender Deutsche Bank with dlrs 713 billion. A deal would also make the two banks a major power player in central Europe, where they have extensive operations, especially in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Reports that Hypo-Vereinsbank and Austria's biggest bank were in talks surfaced as early as March, but the German business daily Handelsblatt said Friday negotiations were advanced and that chances were good for agreement soon. The news helped push shares in Hypo-Vereinsbank up 1.27 percent to 68.61 euros (dlrs 63.80) in early morning trading in an overall down Frankfurt market. Earlier rumors in Austrian press also lifted Bank Austria shares 1.8 percent to 50.91 euros (dlrs 47.34) in Thursday trading. Neither bank's chairman has ruled out the possibility of partnering with other European banks, despite the on-again, off-again rumors that the two banks could form a cooperation agreement of some sort. Both banks have declined to comment on the rumors all along. |