JOHANNESBURG – HSBC Holdings has agreed to sell its wealth offerings and retail and business banking businesses in Mauritius to Absa Group, the latest push by Europe’s biggest lender to offload international units.

The transaction includes assets and liabilities tied to about 38,000 customers, according to a statement. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2024.

HSBC will continue to offer services to mid-sized companies and large corporates headquartered in Mauritius, as well as to the local subsidiaries of international firms.

“Our decision to sell these operations reflects our desire to focus on our strengths as a leading international bank in Mauritius,” said Mr Greg Lowden, chief executive officer of HSBC in Mauritius. “We will continue to serve the needs of our international customers.”

The transaction will give financial services provider Absa an even greater foothold in retail banking in Mauritius. HSBC had 11 retail branches on the Indian Ocean island nation.

“We remain purposeful in our efforts to create a more diversified business,” said Absa CEO Arrie Rautenbach, adding that the company will continue “to deploy capital to attractive growth prospects”.

HSBC has been offloading a number of international retail banking divisions in recent years. The lender agreed in 2022 to sell its Canadian business to Royal Bank of Canada for C$13.5 billion (S$13.3 billion). In 2021, it announced it would exit its United States domestic mass-market retail banking business, in a deal that allowed it to jettison dozens of branches.

Instead, the company has looked to steer billions of US dollars in capital towards Asia. In October, HSBC agreed to buy Citigroup’s retail wealth management portfolio in mainland China, adding about US$3.6 billion (S$4.9 billion) in assets and deposits. BLOOMBERG