Australian banking giant ANZ Banking Group announced on Tuesday that it will divest its holding in Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank. The step is being seen as the reversal of the bank's earlier aggressive strategy to emerge as a super-regional bank in Asia.

ANZ held a 20 percent stake in the Chinese bank. It will transfer its share in the bank to Shanghai Poland Enterprise Management Development Corporation and China Cosco Shipping Corporation. Each of these firms will pick a 10 percent share. The deal is reported to be valued at $1.3 billion, amounting to a price-to-book ratio of 1:1 for Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank.

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The Australian banking company said that the divestment is not likely to have any significant impact on its balance sheet. ANZ has modified its strategy in the recent times under its new CEO Shayne Elliot who took over the position nearly a year back. His predecessor Mike Smith had pursued aggressive "super-regional" strategy despite reservations from the experts.

Elliott has announced several other divestment measures in the recent past. The company recently sold its retail and wealth management business in various places including China, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore to DBS Bank at $80.4 million premium to its net tangible assets.

ANZ is contemplating to focus on institutional banking. Graham Hodges, deputy chief executive of ANZ said, "As we have previously stated, the sale reflects our strategy to simplify our business and improve capital efficiency." The Australian bank said that SRBC accounted for $259 million of its post-tax profits in 2016.

TagsANZ Banking Group, China Cosco Shipping Corporation, Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank