By Robb M. Stewart
MELBOURNE, Australia--National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB.AU) is
moving ahead with its exit from the U.S., announcing plans to sell
further shares in recently listed Great Western Bancorp Inc.
(GWB).
Great Western on Tuesday filed a statement with the Securities
and Exchange Commission for a secondary offering of shares held by
NAB.
The Melbourne-based lender said Wednesday the date for the
offering and the number of shares to be sold wasn't yet
decided.
NAB has been refocusing on its core franchises in Australia and
New Zealand. In October, it floated Great Western on the New York
Stock Exchange, offloading an almost 32% stake that raised US$331
million.
It has also said it plans to exit its U.K. banking businesses,
possibly through a London listing.
The regional U.S. bank operates 158 branches in South Dakota,
Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, Kansas and Missouri.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities and J.P.
Morgan Securities LLC have been named joint book-running managers
and underwriters for the secondary offering, Great Western
said.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
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