SBK - Standard Bank - Update on the acquisition of Bankboston Argentina

SBK - Standard Bank - Update on the acquisition of Bankboston Argentina         
Standard Bank Group Limited                                                     
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)                                  
(Registration number 1969/017128/06)                                            
South African Share Code: SBK                                                   
Namibian Share Code: SNB                                                        
ISIN: ZAE000057378                                                              
("Standard Bank" or "the company")                                              
Update on the acquisition by Standard Bank of BankBoston Argentina              
Having received the regulatory approvals of the South African Reserve Bank      
and the Argentine anti-trust authorities by September 2006, Standard Bank is    
pleased to announce that it has been advised that the necessary approval of     
the Banco Central de la Republica Argentina (the Argentine Central Bank) was    
granted yesterday, 21 December 2006, in respect of the proposed acquisition     
by Standard Bank Argentina S.A. ("Standard Bank Argentina") of the majority     
of the banking operations of BankBoston N.A., Sucursal Buenos Aires, a          
branch of Bank of America N.A. ("BankBoston Argentina") ("the acquisition").    
The formal process under Argentine law for the transfer of the agreed assets    
and liabilities of BankBoston Argentina to Standard Bank Argentina will         
commence shortly and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2007.     
BankBoston Argentina offers both personal and business banking and corporate    
and investment banking services and products in Buenos Aires province and a     
number of regional centres in Argentina, through a network of 89 branches.      
BankBoston Argentina has a staff complement of approximately 2,750 people       
that will join Standard Bank Argentina and total assets to be acquired by       
Standard Bank Argentina of approximately US$ 2.0 billion.  BankBoston           
Argentina has approximately 740,000 individual customers and 20,000             
corporate, commercial and small business customers.                             
Standard Bank Argentina`s existing licensed corporate and investment banking    
operations will be integrated with those of BankBoston Argentina.  Eduardo      
Spangenberg, previously the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Risk Officer      
of BankBoston Argentina, will be appointed Chief Executive Officer of           
Standard Bank Argentina and will be supported by an executive team with         
substantial experience in the Argentine market.                                 
Standard Bank`s initial shareholding in the merged Standard Bank Argentina      
will be 76.7%.  The balance of the shareholding will be held via a holding      
company by Standard Bank`s Argentine partners, the Werthein and Sielecki        
families, who hold options to acquire further shares to increase their          
shareholding over time to 30%.                                                  
Standard Bank Argentina will report into Peter Wharton-Hood, Standard Bank`s    
Chief Executive, Personal and Business Banking.                                 
The total additional capital commitment to establish the merged entity by       
Standard Bank Group will amount to approximately US$ 90 million.  The           
capital base of Standard Bank Argentina following completion of the             
acquisition will amount to approximately US$ 225 million.                       
The acquisition of BankBoston Argentina will not have a significant impact      
on the financial performance of Standard Bank in the short term.                
Further announcements will be made in due course.                               
Johannesburg                                                                    
22 December 2006                                                                
Sponsor                                                                         
Standard Bank                                                                   
Editor`s notes:                                                                 
The Werthein family constitutes one of the largest economic groups operating    
in Argentina. The Wertheins were sole shareholders of Banco Mercantil in        
Argentina until 1999. Today their most significant business interests are:      
- insurance: the family are owners, together with Generali (Italy), of Caja     
de Ahorro y Seguro S.A., the leading insurance company in Argentina,            
specialized in personal lines;                                                  
- communications: the family controls Telecom Argentina (the largest            
telephone company in Argentina), together with Telecom Italia;                  
- agribusiness: the family owns approximately 100,000 hectares of land and      
50,000 head of cattle; and                                                      
- other activities including a fruit dehydrating operation, a tea packing       
and marketing company and other small ventures.                                 
The Sielecki family is a prominent Argentine family whose main business         
interests are in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly medicine             
manufacturing through three laboratories (Phoenix, Elea and Disprofarma).       
In recent years, they have become private equity investors in various           
businesses. In this regard, the family has acquired the Water Company of the    
Province of Mendoza and a petrochemical company in the same province, called    
Petroquimica de Cuyo.                                                           
Date: 22/12/2006 14:10:01 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za                     
Produced by the JSE SENS Department.