Bank of East Asia, NWS Holdings to Sell Tricor Holdings for HK$6.47 Billion

   By Gaurav Raghuvanshi 
 

SINGAPORE--The Bank of East Asia Ltd. (0023.HK) and NWS Holdings Ltd. (0659.HK) said Wednesday that they have signed a deal to sell their entire stake in a Hong Kong-based financial services firm for 6.47 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$834 million) to private-equity firm Permira.

The sale of Tricor Holdings Ltd., which provides back-office services to a range of companies including many Hong Kong- and Singapore-listed firms, follows a review of Bank of East Asia's investment in the firm. Bank of East Asia holds a 75.6% stake in Tricor and NWS owns the rest.

The sale "will generate cash proceeds for strategic opportunities relating to the bank's core banking business and improve the bank's capital position," Bank of East Asia said in a statement to the Hong Kong Exchange. The bank will book a profit of about HK$3.1 billion from the sale, it said.

Tricor provides services such as accounting and financial reporting, payroll and payment administration and corporate governance, according to its website. It has offices in 36 cities across 19 countries and territories.

Bank of East Asia had come under pressure from activist investor Elliott Management Corp. to sell itself. The New York-based hedge fund, which owns about 7% of Bank of East Asia, had blamed the bank's chairman, David Li, for mismanagement. In February, Bank of East Asia dismissed Elliott's suggestion of a sale as "short-term focused."

Goldman Sachs was the sole financial advisor for the bank and its fellow shareholder, according to the statement.

Write to Gaurav Raghuvanshi at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 05, 2016 07:25 ET (11:25 GMT)

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