ING Group NV will probably seek to divest its U.S. online banking unit by merging it with a local lender rather than an international competitor, according to analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
A merger or disposal with a U.S. "domestically focused" party would be preferential, analysts Duncan Russell and Marine Collas wrote in a note to investors. "The reason is that ING Group would still have ING Direct throughout the rest of the world, and thus it cannot risk the newly acquired company moving into these markets and competing with it," they wrote.
ING is under European Union orders to divest its U.S. online lender, ING Direct USA, before 2013. The Amsterdam, Netherlands, company has talked in recent months with Citigroup Inc., CIT Group Inc. and Chrysler Financial Corp., according to people with knowledge of the matter.
