HSBC offloads Thai unit for $115m

HSBC has offloaded its Thai Retail Banking and Wealth Management business to Bank of Ayudhya Public Company Ltd (BAY), as it continued to dispose of its non-core businesses overseas.While HSBC didn't include a sale price for the division - saying that the gross assets being sold are worth 17.5bn baht (around $553m) - the Bank of Ayudhya announced that its acquisition represents an investment of 3.56bn baht ($115m).HSBC said that the disposal was subject to all the usual regulatory approvals but expects it to complete within the first half of this year.Over the last two months, the bank has already sold some of its operations in Japan, Malta and Central America.BC