French retail banking giant BNP Paribas is reportedly weighing its options to sell its US subsidiary Bank of the West.
BNP Paribas is in talks with advisors to exit the US retail market as it is facing tough competition from its rivals in the country.
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The deal could value Bank of the West at about $15bn, Reuters reported citing people familiar with the matter.
BNP Paribas has selected JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs for the divesture, the sources said adding that the talks are still at an early stage and the deal may or may not materialise.
Notably, Bank of the West, which had $99.2bn in assets as of June, has operations in 19 US West and Midwest states.
BNP Paribas had acquired the 147-year old Bank of the West in 1979, which was later merged into the French Bank of California (FBC).
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By GlobalDataThe French lender will use the proceeds to augment its position in the European region, where the central bank is asking lenders to merge to compete with their US and Chinese rivals.
PNC Financial Services Group, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank of Canada and KeyCorp are among the potential buyers of the lender.
Bank of the West, which is BNP Paribas’ key business outside Europe, offers retail banking services to individuals, small businesses and corporate clients.
Recently, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) brokered a deal to sell MUFG Union Bank’s core US banking operations to US Bancorp for $8bn.
