For sale sign up at ABN AMRO Australia

Whoíll buy ABN AMROís Australian unit? New owner Royal Bank of Scotland plans to sell the Aus unit of ABN, plus its 700 local staff.

With a reported AU$1bn price tag, and most banks struggling to find cash at the moment, sale advisers Lazard Carnegie Wylie certainly have their work cut out.

Analysts regard ABN AMROís mergers and acquisition division as one of the key strengths of the local unit, and say any buyer will likely be keen to retain as many of the senior executives as possible given their considerable experience on huge privatisation deals such as Telstra.

ìThey have really good talent across the organisation, particularly through their M&A joint venture with Rothschild,î says one analyst, who preferred not to be named. ìMy tip is that whoever buys ABN will be wanting to keep its experienced deal makers, even if that means thereís some cross-over internally. Thatís experience worth buying.î

Among the potential suitors already reported are National Australia Bank and ANZ. The two Australian banks could be keen on ABNís retail broking joint ventures, including half of stockbroker and financial planning outfit, ABN AMRO Morgans, which has 410 staff.

ìNAB is definitely looking for acquisitions in the funds management manufacturing space,î JPMorgan banking analyst Brian Johnson tells eFinancialCareers.com.au. ìThey own MLC [the bank's wealth management division] but they are very weak in funds management manufacturing.

ìAnd ANZ is really underweight in domestic wealth management.î