By Rogerio Jelmayer And Luciana Magalhaes
SAO PAULO-- Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Banco Bradesco SA and
Banco Santander Brasil SA have bid to buy the Brazilian unit of
HSBC Holdings PLC, according to four people close to the talks.
Itau and Bradesco are Brazilian banks, and Santander is the
Brazilian unit of Spanish lender Banco Santander SA. The banks'
press departments declined to comment for this report.
The sale process is in an early stage and more bids could be
made in the next few weeks, two of the people said. The final sale
could take place as early as August, they added.
HSBC's Brazilian unit is worth between 10 billion reais and 14
billion reais ($3.12 billion to $4.37 billion), according to Tito
Labarta, a banking analyst at Deutsche Bank.
HSBC Holdings said in May that it is exploring various strategic
options for its operations in the South American country, including
a potential sale of the unit. The Hong Kong- and London-listed
bank, however, didn't give further details in a statement.
HSBC has hired Goldman Sachs to gauge the interest of local
prospective buyers, according to those people.
The head of Santander Brasil said at the end of May that his
bank would study the possible acquisition of HSBC's Brazilian
unit.
HSBC's unit is the seventh-largest bank in Brazil, with a 2.7%
market share, in terms of assets and employs 21,000 people,
according to the Brazilian central bank. HSBC Brazil reported a
loss of around GBP200 million ($306.8 million) in 2014.
HSBC's Latin America division, which also includes Mexico and
Argentina, had a difficult 2014, with adjusted profit before tax
dropping 50% as the Brazilian economy slowed. Meanwhile, costs rose
in the region, impacted by union-agreed salary increases and
inflation.
Write to Rogerio Jelmayer at rogerio.jelmayer@wsj.com and
Luciana Magalhaes at Luciana.Magalhaes@dowjones.com
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