By Frank Pingue
TORONTO (Reuters) - DundeeWealth Inc
David Goodman, DundeeWealth's chief executive, said the company's search for an acquisition would likely bear fruit in North America or Europe, but did not rule out a move in Asia.
"We are looking at acquisitions as a potential strategy to grow the business," Goodman told reporters after his father, DundeeWealth Chairman Ned Goodman, gave a speech in Toronto. "We are exploring international opportunities, not just from inside Canada but outside."
Goodman suggested the company would be more immediately focused on takeovers in North America or Europe because "language and other barriers" could make an Asian acquisition more difficult.
The comments from Goodman come about two months after DundeeWealth said it would not consider unsolicited expressions of interest in buying company, and as it ended a special committee it formed to look at interested parties.
"It's over," Ned Goodman told reporters after his speech. "There were no acceptable offers."
At the time, Bank of Nova Scotia
The buyout speculation began in September after the surprise sale of an 18 percent stake to Scotiabank as part of a deal to sell Dundee Bank of Canada.
The deal gave Scotiabank, Canada's second-largest bank, the right to match any bid for DundeeWealth.
Just after this announcement, CI Financial unveiled a C$2.4 billion proposal to buy DundeeWealth, but it never made a formal bid, saying there wasn't any point if it didn't have the support of the Goodmans.
($1=$1.02 Canadian)
(Reporting by Frank Pingue)
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