HSB

While hearing the result announcement of HSBC, an idea suddenly struck my mind: Would they sell HSB ?

For those who are not familiar of the field, I am not talking about selling the first three characters on the logo; I mean the local bank that it acquired some decades ago.

Yes, it sounds unbelievable. (When I told Warren my idea, he took quite a while to be sure I was serious.) Nonetheless, it was equally, if not more, unbelievable twelve months ago to talk about the Citibank being nationalized. Although the gigantic bank would lose a major cash cow by this trading, there are a few conceivable advantages:

1. It means a HK$50000 million cash - around one third of the amount from the new shares.
2. It takes away the duplication of business in Hong Kong.
3. It provides some dressing on the profit / loss account in the next year (while continuing to write off a huge sum from the States).

Who has the capability of buying such a cow ? I suggested the name of an international bank when discussing with Warren.

On a second thought, wouldn't CIC be a better candidate ?