SAO PAULO, May 7 (Reuters) - Grupo BTG Pactual SA, thelargest independent investment bank in emerging markets, couldbe interested in acquiring the Brazilian unit of HSBC HoldingsPlc, which has been put up for sale, Valor Econômico newspaperreported on Thursday.
Valor, which did not say how it obtained the information,said the process of sale of HSBC Brasil began about ten daysago, and that BTG Pactual had been offered the chance to take alook at the asset. HSBC hired Goldman Sachs Group Incto find a buyer for the underperforming unit, the paper said.
Shares of BTG Pactual shed 1.1 percent to 29.52 reais inearly Thursday trading.
While the newspaper did not give a clear indication of whatwould lure BTG Pactual into buying HSBC Brasil, itnoted that an acquisition would help the São Paulo-based lenderalmost double its 224.1 billion reais ($74 billion) in assets.
BTG Pactual, controlled by billionaire financier AndréEsteves, is nearing the completion of a purchase of Swissprivate banking firm BSI Group.
A spokeswoman for BTG Pactual declined to comment on theValor report. A spokesman fopr HSBC in São Paulo said the bank,Brazil's seventh-biggest by asstes, does not comment on marketspeculation.
The report comes after HSBC Chief Executive Officer StuartGulliver has pointed at Brazil, Mexico, Turkey and the UnitesStates as potential markets for disposals. According to Valor,regulators in Brazil could block the purchase of HSBC Brasil bya large bank, which would be likely to fire staff and shutbranches to recoup part of the price paid for the asset.
HSBC Brasil Banco Múltiplo SA, as the unit is formallyknown, had about 170 billion reais in assets as of December.
($1 = 3.0331 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by NickZieminski)
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)