Deutsche to sell assets to finance Bankers bid

DEUTSCHE BANK is looking at selling a raft of industrial holdings, including its 13 per cent stake in auto giant DaimlerChrysler, to finance its planned $9bn (pounds 5.2bn) cash bid for America's Bankers Trust.

The sale of at least part of the stake - worth pounds 7bn at current prices - may in any case be forced on the bank by US regulators because of rules banning banks from holding large stakes in industrial companies.

Jurgen Krumnow, the Deutsche board member responsible for credit risk, said at a conference in Frankfurt yesterday that the bank was looking at a range of options, including asset sales and the issue of new equity or debt finance.

"The structure of the financing has not yet been concluded," he said. "We are considering all possibilities."

Banks analyst Brian Crossley at ABN-Amro, the Dutch bank, said Deutsche would probably opt for a mix of asset sales and bond issues to raise the cash rather than rely solely on sales of industrial holdings which could incur a massive tax bill. Deutsche owns assets worth more than pounds 11bn in total.