The South African bank is to sell its 20% shareholding in ICBCA, which is held by its subsidiary Standard Bank London.
The stake’s value is fixed at $180.7m (£149.1m, €161.37m, ZAR2.7bn).
Standard Bank Group retained the 20% share when it disposed of the controlling interest in ICBCA in November 2012.
Collectively, ICBCA is made up of: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Argentina), previously Standard Bank Argentina, ICBC Investments Argentina Sociedad Gerente de Fondos Comunes de Inversión (previously Standard Investments S.A. Sociedad Gerente de Fondos Comunes de Inversión) and Inversora Diagonal.
When Standard Bank decided to reduce its stake to a minority holding, it put in the agreement that the group would have the right to sell the remaining shareholding to ICBC, as long as it gave notice between 1 December 2014 and 30 November 2019.
Other plans in store
While ICBCA has had a strong performance, the South African bank said: “Argentina remains off strategy for the group as a geography and there is little overlap in the client bases of Standard Bank Group and ICBCA.
“Standard Bank Group considers that an exit from its investment in ICBCA to realise capital for reinvestment into its African strategy is appropriate.”
The transaction is believed to be completed either by the end of 2019 or in the first half of 2020 and the group will receive any net proceeds on the date of completion.
