Chemical Sells Assets in Korea
ABN-Amro Holding announced Monday it had acquired about $200 million in assets of Chemical Banking Corp. in Seoul, South Korea.
The purchase price for the assets, most of which are corporate loans, was not disclosed.
Chemical announced in January it would close its Seoul operations as part of an effort to reduce its international commercial lending activities. Since last year, the bank has closed units in Spain and Switzerland and scaled back operations in Australia.
An Expansion Program
ABN-Amro, meanwhile, has been steadily expanding its international presence.
The company, with $210 billion in assets, announced last week that it had agreed to acquire Talman Home Federal Savings in Chicago. Earlier this month, it bought out minority shareholders in European American Bank, a retail bank with $4.7 billion in assets, mostly in the New York suburbs.
Acquiring Chemical's assets roughly doubles ABN-Amro's operations in South Korea, where the company has had an office since 1979.
