KIA says open to RBS stake buy
Kuwait, June 7, 2011
The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) would consider buying a stake in British lender Royal Bank of Scotland but no offer has yet been made, the sovereign wealth fund's managing director said on Tuesday.
"They did not offer us a stake. When we get an offer, we will look at it," Bader al Saad told reporters outside Kuwait's parliament, adding the KIA had met with RBS.
Britain, which bailed out RBS and rival Lloyds during the credit crisis, could start selling its stake in RBS next year, a senior RBS executive said last week.
Earlier this year, Qatar said it was open to buying stakes in part state-owned lenders RBS and rival Lloyds.
The British government ended up with stakes of 83 percent in RBS and around 40 percent in Lloyds after the bail outs.
The Sunday Telegraph, citing sources close to the process, said in May that Britain would target institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East and Asia.-Reuters