Standard Chartered Bank is selling its Hong Kong consumer finance unit. The bank wants to boost its share price and comfort investors. A consortium led by a state-owned Chinese tourism operator and including Pepper, an Australian non-bank lender, and York Capital Management, the US hedge fund, will take over PrimeCredit, based in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and a price was not disclosed, although it is believed to be $600 million–$700 million. StanChart’s shares have lost a third of their value this year – underperforming European peers, with the FTSE Eurofirst banks index down 6%. The proposal to sell the unit was first mooted in February, shortly after Peter Sands, the chief executive, outlined a new approach to business viability based on five filters including growth, returns, dividend capacity, network and strategic value.
