(Sharecast News) - HSBC said on Friday that it has agreed to sell its French retail bank to My Money Group in a deal that will lead to a pre-tax loss of around $2.3bn.
The bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with My Money - which is backed by private equity firm Cerberus Capital - for the sale of the business, which consists of a network of 244 retail branches, serving 800,000 customers.
Chief executive Noel Quinn said: "The signing of an MOU for the potential sale of our French retail banking business represents a significant step in progressing the actions we announced during our strategic update earlier this year.
"It will enable us to dramatically simplify our business in Continental Europe and allow us to accelerate the transformation of our European wholesale banking franchise. We are committed to remaining as a leading international wholesale bank in Continental Europe, capitalising on our global network and serving our multinational customers both inbound and outbound."
The potential sale would be expected to complete in the first half of 2023 and would result in an estimated pre-tax loss of around $2.3bn, together with an additional $0.7bn impairment of goodwill. HSBC will receive a nominal €1 for the French retail bank.
At 1610 BST, HSBC shares were down 2% at 430.80p.
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