HypoVereinsbank Buys Portfolio from ING BHF

HypoVereinsbank, Germany's second biggest bank, said Thursday it had agreed to buy a portfolio of loans to mid-size corporate customers from ING BHF-Bank, the German arm of Dutch financial services group ING. Financial details of the transaction, which was expected to be completed in the first half of 2005, were not disclosed. "We intend to take over a loan portfolio of mid-sized German corporate customers from ING BHF-Bank. The parties have signed a respective memorandum of understanding and agreed to observe confidentiality regarding the takeover price," HVB said in a statement. The deal would give HVB access to some 1,400 new corporate customers. Aggregate lendings to these customers amounted to around € 2billion ($ 2.5 billion). (AFP)