SINGAPORE, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Fubon Financial Holding Co Ltd 2881.TW is weighing a bid for Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd's ANZ.AX 39 percent stake worth $612 million in PT Bank Pan Indonesia Tbk (Panin) PNBN.JK , two people familiar with the matter said.
"This is real," said one of the people aware of Fubon's interest in Panin. "Some banks have pitched to Fubon for a mandate."
ANZ is inviting preliminary bids for its stake in Panin and there is a very short list of bidders, the person said. The two people were not authorised to speak with media on the matter and so declined to be identified.
Officials at ANZ and Fubon declined to comment on the latter's interest, which was first reported by Bloomberg. Spanish lender Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA) BBVA.MC is also interested in Panin, Bloomberg said. BBVA declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
Reuters reported on Aug. 21 that ANZ hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) GS.N for the sale, which is expected to attract bidders from China, Taiwan and Japan.
Australian banks are scrambling to raise capital and sell assets after a domestic regulator ordered them to set aside more reserves against their oversized mortgage books.
Previous talks between ANZ and Japan's Mizuho Financial Group Inc 8411.T over the Panin stake stalled, partly because Mizuho's request for Panin board seats was opposed by the Gunawan family, which controls 46.5 percent of the Indonesian lender, people familiar with the matter said.