Germany's Deutsche Bank looks set to buy New York-based Bankers Trust for US$7.36 billion ($13.9 billion) in what would be the biggest cross-border takeover in United States history.
If Deutsche Bank is successful there is likely to be a new wave of mergers in the financial services industry.
Deutsche Bank has said for sometime now that it wanted to buy a US securities firm so it can better compete with the likes of Merrill Lynch and Citigroup (the organisation formed by the recent merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group).
Downunder the merger would create a huge organisation that could change the nature of the industry, particularly in Australia.
Across the Tasman BT is the second largest fund manager with A$34 billion under management and Deutsche's Morgan Grenfell (Australia) is the 10th largest. Combined, they would have $A52 billion under management and move into number one spot ahead of AMP.
It would also combine to be the biggest broking house.
While Deutsche doesn't operate in New Zealand, a number of managers including Tower, contract it to manage international assets.
A provisional date of November 30 has been set for a formal announcement on the merger.
Germany's Deutsche Bank looks set to buy New York-based Bankers Trust for US$7.36 billion ($13.9 billion) in what would be the biggest cross-border takeover in United States history.