HSBC has offered to sell its French retail bank to Cerberus-backed My Money Group in a transaction that might result in a $2.3 billion loss for the British bank but will bring an end to its protracted fight to sell the company as it concentrates on Asia.

The agreement declared on Friday represents another important step in HSBC's broader withdrawal from slow-growing European and North American regions in which it has competed against stronger domestic rivals.

Meanwhile, Cerberus continues to acquire banks in Europe, in which the private equity firm is already a shareholder in Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank.

The deal would monitor that, My Money will buy HSBC's 244 locations, about 3900 employees, and 24 billion euros in assets, establishing a new challenger bank in France's competitive retail banking environment.

“Our goal is to bring the bank to profitability three years once we take control,” My Money Chief Executive Eric Shehadeh said in a statement.

At 1339 GMT, HSBC shares were down 1.9% after falling ahead of the declaration of a widely anticipated agreement.

As per HSBC, the selling price will be a nominal 1 euro, with the firm having a net asset worth of $2 billion at the time the purchase closes, with the British bank pledging to compensate any deficit in that valuation if it decreases.

My Money has announced that it would resuscitate the Credit Commercial de France (CCF) brand, which HSBC purchased for about 11 billion euros 21 years ago to acquire a presence in one of Europe's largest markets. This also intends to invest 200 million euros in the IT infrastructure of the HSBC business.

The two firms are required by French law to discuss their staff on the merger, and if HSBC and My Money decide to go ahead, it may be inked in the third or fourth quarter of this year, with completion scheduled for 2023.

Shehadeh stated that My Money is a "responsible employer" but that no job layoffs will occur until 2024 or 2025.

Other aspects of HSBC's French operations, such as investment and business banking, would be maintained.

The deal is HSBC's second withdrawal from a major Western market this year, post the sale of its retail banking operations in the United States, as Chief Executive Noel Quinn seeks to minimize costs in regions where the bank has consistently struggled to be profitable.

Low central bank interest rates, along with competition from domestic firms, have made conventional deposit-taking retail operations unappealing in many developed economies in recent times, particularly in smaller banks.

HSBC placed its French retail operation under “strategic review” in September 2019, with a sale announced in December of the same year, after a long struggle to produce adequate earnings from the company.

HSBC reported a deficit before tax of 288 million euros for the fiscal year ending 31 December 2020.

HSBC grappled to draw bids because they were concerned about the extensive restructuring that was expected to be required and the complicated negotiations with local regulators. All the French banks who've been initially interested in the case withdrew their interest.

Dutch bank ING said that it has put its French retail banking operations under strategic review.

Tesco, Britain's largest grocery chain, has prolonged a one-hour delivery experiment to test customers' demand for the service, according to the company's CEO on Friday. The next struggle is for instant delivery, in the given money of shoppers.

A slew of new companies, including Weezy, Getir, Dija, and Gorillas, are promising deliveries within 15 minutes of placing an order, pushing conventional supermarket chains to reconsider their business strategies.

Tesco trialed its "Whoosh" services in postcodes surrounding its Express shop in Wolverhampton, central England, and it has now expanded the experiment to 11 other locations, according to Chief Executive Ken Murphy, after providing an update on first-quarter earnings.

All products are delivered by bike, scooter, or vehicle for a charge of 5 pounds ($6.95).

“We'll continuing testing and understanding from this, and the experiment we're undertaking with Deliveroo in more than 260 One Stop stores,” Murphy added.