Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Analysts: Wells Fargo a good fit for Ally

Ally Financial is weighing a sale of all or part of its auto lending and banking businesses, Reuters reported last week - and some analysts are targeting Wells Fargo & Co. as a possible buyer.

A research note from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods today said Wells, which bought Charlotte’s Wachovia in 2008, is a “likely buyer” for Ally’s North American Auto Finance business. The San Francisco-based bank is one of the few large lenders with the interest and balance sheet to take down the entire business, KBW analysts said.

They believe Wells would be interested in acquiring the business because of Ally’s market share and Wells’ excess liquidity to buy assets, they said. Other lenders that might be interested in part or all of the business include JPMorgan and U.S. Bank, the analysts said.

"A purchase of the auto finance business would give Wells a much larger industry presence in a line of business where WFC already competes," the KBW report said. "... Overall, we believe that the market would view this as a good deal for Wells Fargo."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you wonder how GM is selling all those cars its because they are sub-prime and being channel stuffed to dealers. Guess where all these loans are at Ally of course; who is the financing arm of GM now you know why they are interested in selling. Step up Wells the Money Store is waiting for you.

Anonymous said...

Umm, totally incorrect, Anonymous. The old GMAC is now Ally. GM set up its own captive finance company called GM Financial, which is a completely different company than Ally. Please get your facts straight before spouting off non-truths.

Anonymous said...

Speculation re. the sale of Ally's assets is in the pipeline. Question is: How might this affect customers?Last time I checked rates and yields at Wells were hardly competitive with those offered at Ally.

Anonymous said...

Lol Umm they grow them big in Charlotte don't they. Ally makes auto loans to consumers and helps dealers finance their inventories. GM's dealers, as a group, are its largest customer.