HSBC Bank Georgia to Sell Legacy Portfolio
HSBC Bank Georgia will sell its legacy retail portfolio to Société Générale’s subsidiary in Georgia, Bank Republic, HSBC said in a statement on December 5.
HSBC announced in September about plans to withdraw from Georgia, where it is represented through its wholly-owned subsidiary, by early 2012 as part of its strategy to retreat from markets where it lacks scale.
The amount of the deal with Bank Republic was not disclosed; HSBC, however, said that the value of the gross assets to be sold was about USD 4.5m as of November 23, 2011.
“The sale is expected to be completed during December 2011,” HSBC said.
Société Générale took over Bank Republic’s controlling interest in 2006 and further increased its shares to 80%. EBRD holds 10% equity in the Bank Republic.
