DBS in advanced talks to buy SocGen Asia private bank

[HONG KONG] Singapore's DBS Group Holdings is in advanced talks to buy Societe Generale's Asian private bank, a deal that would help boost its private banking assets by almost a third, sources familiar with the matter said.

It was unclear how much South-east Asia's biggest lender would be willing to pay for the bank, but previous estimates from financial sources have valued it at between US$300 million and US$400 million.

A successful deal would make it the third major transaction in Asia's competitive private banking landscape since the global financial crisis, as smaller players struggle to gener…