In a surprise move Bank of New Zealand's parent National Australia Bank (NAB) chose not to put a bid in for the BT Funds Management.
For weeks now NAB has been considered the front runner to acquire the Australian and New Zealand businesses of BT from Deutsche Bank.
Four companies put bids into to Deutsche's adviser, Goldman Sachs, by the Saturday deadline. They include Westpac, ASB Bank's parent Commonwealth Bank of Australia, US-based Principal and Lend Lease.
Currently Deutsche is negotiating with the first three of these bidders, however it is understood to be keen to lure NAB back into the round.
None of the parties are commenting on the process at present, however it is thought that NAB's withdrawal was related to several factors including: price (A$2 billion plus), staff retention and integration issues.
A decision on the sale may be made sometime this week.
A further development is that Deutsche may now sell BT's funds management and investment bank businesses separately.
The investment bank has been on the market for more than five months, however a buyer is proving difficult to find. When Deutsche decided to sell the funds management business it also decided to bundle the business up with the investment bank.
Bidders wanting only the funds management side of BT haven't warmly received this decision.
In a surprise move Bank of New Zealand's parent National Australia Bank (NAB) chose not to put a bid in for the BT Funds Management.