ING Groep NV, which has a division in Des Moines, was close to merging with Dutch bank ABN AMRO Holding NV earlier this year, but the process was stopped by ING, which in the end thought the price it had to pay was too high, Reuters and a Dutch daily newspaper reported.

The Dutch Central Bank, the Dutch Ministry of Finance and European Competition Commissioner had all received details about the potential merger and had expressed their approval.

However, ING on March 14 decided not to go ahead with the takeover, as ABN AMRO’s share price had reached a point that ING deemed too expensive.

ABN AMRO is now the subject of competing bids from Barclays plc and a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium.

Earlier this week, ING reached a deal to buy Landmark Investment Management Co. Ltd., the 12th-largest asset management company in South Korea.