Standard Chartered Korea has entered agreements to sell all of its share capital of Standard Chartered Savings Bank and Standard Chartered Capital Korea to J Trust.

Standard Chartered Korea has entered agreements to sell all of its share capital of Standard Chartered Savings Bank and Standard Chartered Capital Korea to J Trust. The sale price is an aggregate consideration of KRW151 billion ($148 million) in cash.

The agreements are subject to regulatory approvals and expected to complete by the end of this year, Standard Chartered, the UK-listed private bank, said in a statement. It said the sale doesn’t represent a retreat from the South Korea market, to which it remains committed.

SCSB and SCCK will become part of the J Trust group upon completion, while all of the staff will remain employed under their existing terms and conditions.
 
The transactions are “further” progress, Standard Chartered said, in its “strategy to improve the returns generated by its South Korean business by simplifying the structure of its operations, increasing the focus on wealth products and services and serving Korean clients that can benefit from the Group’s international trade network”.

“Standard Chartered remains committed to its South Korean business, and the sale of SCSB and SCCK does not impact Standard Chartered’s retail clients, commercial clients or corporate and institutional clients in the country.

“These transactions are part of our strategy to reshape our business in Korea, as we improve returns by focusing on the client segments and products where we are competitively differentiated,” Ajay Kanwall, chief executive at Standard Chartered Korea, said.

Under Korean accounting standards, as of 31 December last year, SCCK had net assets of KRW109 billion while SCSB had net assets of KRW58 billion as of 30 June, 2013.