StanChart, SBI in race for Barclay's Rs 200 cr cards biz: sources

Mumbai: Standard Chartered and SBI Card are competing to buy Barclays' India credit cards business, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the British bank looks to reduce its exposure to unsecured lending in the country.

Barclays has about 200,000 card holders in India and the book value of the business is roughly Rs 2oo crore ($42 million), the sources said on Tuesday, declining to be named as the information is not yet public.

[caption id="attachment_83563" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Barclays put its India cards unit up for sale earlier this year as part of a restructuring of its business in the country. Reuters"][/caption]

Final bids for the Barclays credit cards business in India are expected early next month and the deal is likely to be closed in a month, they said, adding the deal value could be at a "small" premium to the book value.

Barclays put its India cards unit up for sale earlier this year as part of a restructuring of its business in the country.

More from Fwire

"We are reviewing options for cards, a business which requires scale and which may be able to achieve that scale under new ownership," a Barclays India spokesman told Reuters, without giving details.

UK-based rival Standard Chartered, which has about 1.2 million card holders in India, and SBI Card, a joint venture between the country's top lender State Bank of India and GE Capital, declined to comment.

Reuters