By close of business in Australia today, June 9, we will know who has thrown their hat into the ring to acquire ANZ's much touted wealth unit.
That is the deadline for interested parties to tender their first-round bids for the highly trailed sale.
The first question to be answered is whether or not the price, which analysts have indicated could reach as high as $4.5, billion will be in one of the envelopes.
According to Australian Financial Review's Street Talk, (behind paywall) while ANZ has made its preference that bids come in for the division in its entirety, several indicative offers are outside those parameters.
Deal or no Deal
A number of the potential suitors are thought to have opted to just bid for either the life insurance or the funds management arm.
The Melbourne headquartered bank which has been diluting its international business exposure, has promoted the lengthy sales process as a way of finding a suitable partner who will manufacture wealth products for the bank.
As yet there is no firm timetable or date for the second-round, should there be one.
More to follow...
