Standard Chartered Plc shares hit a record high on Monday on speculation it was a takeover target for a major US bidder but the Asian-focused bank struck a defiant note, saying it had no need to merge.For more than two decades, StanChart has been rumored to be a takeover target for a bank seeking to enlarge its Asian footprint. British Sunday newspaper The Observer said it was being lined up as a bid target by US groups such as JP Morgan Chase & Co, Citigroup and Bank of America Corp.‘‘It’s the usual suspects.yes you can see the reasons why they would be interested but it’s very difficult to make the numbers stack up while Standard Chartered’s shares are where they are at the moment,’’ said James Leal, analyst at Teather & Greenwood.By 1140 GMT, Standard Chartered shares were up 6.4 per cent at 1,410 pence, after hitting 1,434p, valuing the bank at 16.7 billion pounds ($29.5 billion). Its average daily volume of 7 million shares had almost already changed hands.Takeover talk is not new for Standard — it was formed in 1969 when Chartered Bank and Standard Bank merged to protect themselves from takeover. It fought off a hostile bid from Lloyds TSB in 1986, but that has not stopped the talk of predatory interest.A spokesman for the London-headquartered bank said it had no need to merge, it had a record of high performance in growing markets and it believed it had a strong independent future.The Observer, citing investment bankers, also said US banks Wells Fargo and Wachovia and UK rivals Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland were casting an acquisitive eye on Standard. The bid gossip gathered pace after Asian tycoon Khoo Teck Puat died in 2004, leaving his family holding a 13.4 per cent stake, the largest single stake in StanChart.‘‘We would not discount this speculation entirely. We would be surprised if several of the large US banks did not monitor Standard Chartered fairly constantly,’’ said Cazenove said in a brief note to clients. The stockbroker is joint house broker to Standard and has a joint venture with JP Morgan.Cazenove said banks needed to put internally generated capital to use, and if one bank made an approach, a bidding war could drive any offer to a 30 per cent premium to last week’s close.— Reuters
