Hong Kong & Shanghai Corp. (HBC) on Tuesday sold its 7% stake in Chilean bank Banco Santiago (SAN) to Chilean and international investors for about $130.5 million.
HSBC sold in an auction its 6.91 billion shares in the Chilean bank for 12.35 pesos ($1=CLP653.80) per share.
According to a spokeswoman from local brokerage Celfin, which managed the sale, 65% of HSBC’s shares were sold to 10 separate international institutional investors. The remaining 35% was purchased by about 30 Chilean private and institutional investors.
HSBC’s Banco Santiago share sale comes only a day after Spanish bank Santander Central Hispano (STD) consolidated its control of Banco Santiago with its $675 million purchase of the Chilean Central Bank’s 35.5% stake in the Chilean bank. SCH now has 79% of Banco Santiago .
The Spanish bank proposed just last week a merger between Banco Santiago and its other Chile holding Banco Santander Chile (BSB).
Meanwhile, HSBC’s sale of its holding in Banco Santiago doesn’t signal its exit from Chile , where it has a branch of HSBC USA . HSBC officials said Monday the bank has no intention of closing that branch.