HSBC subsidiary HSBC Continental Europe (HBCE) has completed the sale of its retail banking business in France.
The relevant information is contained in the statement of the mentioned financial institution, which was published on Monday, January 1. The bank reported that all necessary regulatory approvals had been received to complete the deal. The financial institution’s statement notes that the final stage of the retail banking business sale process in France was implemented on January 1.
The path of this deal lasted two years. The new owner of HSBC’s retail banking business in France is My Money Group, which is controlled by the American private equity fund Cerberus.
As a result of the deal, almost 250 retail branches of HSBC France with 800,000 customers and 3,500 employees will become CCF, a brand that has become a kind of long-delayed project for a financial institution, the idea of which appeared at the beginning of the bank’s activities in this European country.
The sale of the retail banking business is an action within the framework of the implementation of the lender’s strategy with headquarters in London to simplify and reorient operations to Asia. HSBC considers the specified region as its main functional space.
The bank announced its intention to sell the French business in June 2021. At that time, the financial institution reported that the transfer of the structural unit to another ownership system for a nominal amount of one euro would cause significant subsequent expenses.
The process of implementing the deal was complicated by the fact that central banks around the world began to implement a policy of raising interest rates. Against this background, HSBC has reserved $2.4 billion in fees for the French business in the third quarter of 2022.
Currently, there is no information about the value of the deal that ended on the first day of this year.
My Money Group said that after the purchase of HSBC’s retail banking business in France, it will have total assets worth more than 30 billion euros. The company also reported a substantial liquidity position of 10 billion euros in cash.
Noel Quinn, CEO of the HSBC Group, described the deal as an important milestone in the bank’s strategic vision of Europe as a functional space. Separately, he noted that the successful sale of the retail banking business is a positive start to 2024.
Noel Quinn stated that HSBC plans to focus on its international wholesale banking operations in Europe along with its target business in the sphere of wealth in the region. He also called private banking another important area of work of a financial institution in the specified geographical area.
Cerberus will invest about 225 million euros in the retail banking business in France, which was part of the HSBC ownership structure until January 1. The previous business owner will retain a portfolio of loans worth 7 billion euros, which were originally supposed to be transferred.
This deal became the main event in the sphere of banking in the early days of 2024.
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