JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s (JPM) proposed $4 billion takeover of RBS Sempra, the joint venture commodities business of Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (RBS,RBS.L) and Sempra Energy (SRE), has hit a roadblock, media reports said Sunday.
The investment bank, which was last month named as the exclusive bidder for RBS's 51% stake in RBS Sempra, now reportedly has concerns about buying the unit's U.S. gas and power activities due to President Barack Obama's plans to curb banks in the U.S. from proprietary trading.
JPMorgan may however buy RBS' interests in Sempra's European operations and international oil-trading business, which together account for about 50% of the business. The bank had previously entered into talks to buy the whole business.
JPMorgan and RBS are now reportedly discussing a deal under which RBS would sell its stake in RBS Sempra's U.S. operations back to Sempra Energy. RBS is being forced to sell its share of the joint venture in Sempra as part of the concessions demanded by the European Commission for the state aid the bank has received during the financial crisis. RBS acquired a 51% stake in the venture in 2007 for about $1.7 billion.
The transaction was expected to increase JPMorgan's presence in commodities trading, which includes energy, metals and agriculture, and turn the bank into one of the largest player in commodities, alongside Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Barclays Capital.
President Obama took U.S. banks by surprise last month when he proposed a ban on proprietary trading - trading for their own profit. He unveiled his proposals, to be known as the Volcker Rule, a day after JPMorgan had secured exclusivity with RBS, casting a question mark over the prospects for a quick deal.
Reports indicated that under a revised deal that could be agreed as early as this week, JPMorgan is expected to pay RBS about $1 billion for the international division, with Sempra Energy will come up with the remaining $1 billion.
Meanwhile, reports in the U.K. said that RBS is to kick-start a new GBP 2 billion business auction this week for its Global Merchant Services or GMS operations. GMS's assets include the WorldPay payment processing division.
The potential bidders are believed to include private equity and trade buyer consortia, including Silver Lake Partners in conjunction with payment services group Tsys, KKR, which owns payment processor First Data, and Advent International, which owns a majority stake in Fifth Third's payments business. JPM closed Friday's regular trading session at $38.94, down $0.54 or 1.37% on a volume of 53.66 million shares. RBS closed Friday's regular trading on the NYSE at $10.21, down $0.32 or 3.04% on a volume of 0.31 million shares.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.