March 6 Reuters Australia39;s fourthbiggest bank ANZ Group said on Wednesday it has agreed to sell around 546 million shares, or 16.5 interest, in Malaysian lender AMMB Holdings for about 2.10 billion ringgit 443.69 million.

The sale of shares, made through a block trade, has been upsized to a 16.5 stake from 9 previously agreed, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.

The offer price of 3.85 ringgit apiece is at a discount of 8.35 to the closing price of AMMB39;s shares of 4.20 ringgit on Tuesday.

The sale comes three years after ANZ announced it would write down the value of its investment in AMMB after the Malaysian bank settled a claim linked to the massive financial scandal at state fund 1MDB.

ANZ39;s shareholding in AmBank will reduce to 5.2 from 21.7 once the sale is completed.

The deal is in line with ANZ39;s strategy, which includes shrinking key business lines involving lowreturning institutional loans and its exposure to retail and wealth banking in Asia as it looks to boost its return on equity.

Proceeds from the sale will increase ANZ39;s CET1 ratio by 16 basis points, but would not have an incremental impact on profits, the bank said.

The settlement of the sale is expected to take place on March 8.

1 4.7330 ringgit

Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri

Source Reuters