Barclays sells Italian branches to CheBanca!

(ShareCast News) - Barclays has announced it will sell its Italian retail banking network to CheBanca!, a member of the Mediobanca Group. The FTSE 100 bank announced the deal on Thursday, which comprises of 89 branches and a broadly balanced portfolio of assets and liabilities.It will continue to operate investment banking and corporate banking in Italy, and manage the remaining retail mortgage portfolio.It's estimated that it will result in a 30 September 2015 pro forma decrease in risk weighted assets of approximately £0.8bn, as well as a loss after tax of around £200m.Barclays Group chief executive Jes Staley said the deal is further evidence of the re-shaping of the bank to focus on its core businesses. "We continue to make progress in the reduction of Barclays Non-Core as we target risk weighted assets of around £20bn at the end of 2017."The deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2016, subject to regulatory approvals.