HSBC sells $25 billion Australian home and personal loan portfolio to Blackstone

Since the global financial crisis, HSBC has been scaling back its worldwide footprint, exiting low-returning consumer banking activities in markets ranging from France and Greece to Canada.

The bank last week agreed to sell its Singapore insurance unit to Germany's Allianz SE ALVG.DE, and struck a deal in May to divest its retail and wealth operations in Indonesia to Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp OCBC.SI.

HSBC said it would continue investing in its corporate and institutional banking business across Australia and New Zealand, moving away from consumer lending as part of the restructuring.

Blackstone said separately it plans to continue deploying significant capital to tap Australia's housing market.

The transaction comes as Australia's housing market faces softer demand, with higher borrowing costs and tax changes weighing on investor activity.