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HSBC in talks to sell South African unit to FirstRand, Bloomberg News reports - REUTERS
Prerna Bedi
Sept 13 (Reuters) – HSBC Holdings is in talks to sell its South African corporate banking business to a unit of FirstRand FSRJ.J, the country’s largest lender by market value, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
A deal with Rand Merchant Bank, the corporate and investment banking division of FirstRand, has not yet been finalised and there is no guarantee the transaction will close, Bloomberg reported.
No financial details were disclosed.
HSBC and FirstRand declined to comment.
HSBC entered South Africa in 1995, and today serves mainly large companies operating on the continent.
According to an earlier Bloomberg report, African, Chinese and United Arab Emirates-based bidders are interested in HSBC’s business in South Africa.
HSBC also has an equities business in South Africa that it plans to sell, Bloomberg added on Friday.
HSBC has in recent years slashed its businesses in Western markets such as the U.S., France and Canada to redirect its focus on Asia and markets where it has scale.
(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Radhika Anilkumar; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Savio D’Souza, Jonathan Oatis and Louise Heavens)
