Commonwealth Bank of Australia is to pay just A$2.1bn (US$1.4bn) to acquire BankWest from its struggling UK parent HBOS, in a deal that underlines the opportunities available to well capitalised banks to seize assets from distressed sellers.

Analysts as recently as last month put a £3bn (US$5.2bn) price tag on BankWest, a fast-growing bank in the resource rich state of Western Australia.