Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has agreed to sell its 20% stake in Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank (SRCB) to China Cosco Shipping and Shanghai SinoPoland Enterprise Management Development.
China COSCO and Shanghai Sino-Poland will each buy 10% of SRCB for a total of A$1.84bn ($1.33bn).
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ANZ said that the sale will boost its APRA CET1 capital ratio by 40 basis points.
ANZ deputy CEO Graham Hodges said: "As we have previously stated, the sale reflects our strategy to simplify our business and improve capital efficiency.
“The sale will also allow us to focus our resources on our Institutional Banking business in Asia. This includes a significant commitment to China over the past 30 years with 100% ANZ-owned branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Qingdao serving our institutional clients."
The deal is expected to be wrapped up by mid-2017, subject to regulatory approvals.
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By GlobalDataThe latest move by ANZ is part of its plans to focus on institutional banking in the region. In October 2016, it agreed to sell its retail banking and wealth management operations in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Indonesia to Singapore’s DBS Bank as part of this strategy.
