July 31 (Reuters) – HSBC HSBA.L, 0005.HK said on Friday it would sell its A$36 billion ($25.30 billion) Australian home and personal loan portfolio to investment giant Blackstone BX.N, marking its phased exit from retail banking in the country.
The transaction is the latest move in CEO Georges Elhedery’s overhaul of the bank as he seeks to simplify operations, improve returns and redeploy capital toward higher-growth businesses.
Since assuming the top job in September 2024, Elhedery has cut management ranks, reduced costs and shed non-core operations as he reshapes the bank’s global footprint.
The bank last week agreed to sell its Singapore insurance unit to Germany’s Allianz SE ALVG.DE and in May struck a deal to divest its retail and wealth operations in Indonesia to Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp OCBC.SI.
Since the global financial crisis, HSBC has been scaling back its worldwide footprint, exiting low-returning consumer banking activities in markets ranging from France and Greece to Canada.
The Australian portfolio will be acquired by Virgo BidCo, a vehicle wholly owned by funds managed by Blackstone affiliates, in a transaction expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory and competition approvals.
Blackstone said separately that it has invested in Australia for nearly two decades and plans to continue deploying significant capital to support the country’s housing market.
HSBC said it would continue investing in its corporate and institutional banking business across Australia and New Zealand, moving away from consumer lending as part of the restructuring.
The transaction comes as Australia’s housing market faces softer demand, with higher borrowing costs and tax changes weighing on investor activity.
Australian lender Westpac WBC.AX said in June mortgage applications had declined 10% since the government’s May budget, while National Australia Bank NAB.AX on Thursday posted a 15% drop in applications in the June quarter.
HSBC expects the disposal to result in a loss of less than $100 million by the first half of 2027 and to incur about $300 million in restructuring costs linked to the retail wind-down. It also expects to recognise about $300 million in foreign currency translation losses, with no impact on its CET1 ratio.
($1 = 1.4231 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed, Shilpi Majumdar and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
