HSBC Said to Get Turkey Unit Bids as Citi Hired for Sale
HSBC Holdings Plc shortlisted three bidders for a sale of its unprofitable Turkish unit after hiring advisers from Citigroup Inc. to help drive a sale, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
ING Groep NV of the Netherlands, Paris-based BNP Paribas SA and Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corp. submitted binding bids for the unit, the people said, asking not to be named as the process is private. The unit, which made a 32.1 million lira loss in the first quarter, may be valued at about $500 million, according to two of the people.
HSBC Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver said on June 9 that units in Turkey and Brazil would be sold as part of a restructuring designed to cut costs. HSBC’s Turkey unit ranks as the country’s 13th biggest lender, with 33.6 billion liras ($12.5 billion) of assets at the end of March 31, according to data from the Banks’ Association of Turkey.
BNP, ABC, ING, Citigroup and HSBC declined to comment.
ING and BNP already operate in Turkey’s $820 billion banking industry; ING under its own name, and BNP through Turk Ekonomi Bankasi AS, which is commonly known as TEB.
Source: Bloomberg – HSBC Said to Get Turkey Unit Bids as Citi Hired for Sale
