Mumbai: HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank, has received a 2.1 billion euro cash offer from Banque Federale des Banque Populaires for the sale of 400 branches in France.

Banque Populaires, the French regional consumer-banking network, said London-based HSBC is in exclusive talks with it for the sale of seven branches in France.

HSBC is in talks with several baks to sell its 400 French branches.

The seven regional banks which Banque Populaires intends to acquire include Societe Marseillaise de Credit, Banque de Savoie, Banque Chaix, Banque Marze, Banque Dupuy, de Parseval, Banque Pelletier and Credit Commercial du Sud-Ouest.

HSBC chairman Stephen Green said the offer is an opportunity to redeploy capital to other investments as HSBC pursues its strategy and rebalances its activities toward emerging markets.

The offered price is 21 times the units' after-tax earnings last year and 3.7 times its market cap on December 31, said HSBC.

"This acquisition allows Groupe Banque Populaire to improve its growth prospects in retail banking,'' Banque Populaire chairman Philippe Dupont said in a statement.

Credit Industriel & Commercial (CIC) and BNP had been the other participants in a final round of bidding, for the HSEB branches.

HSBC French branches has assets totalling 8.38 billion euros, with shareholders' equity of 564 million euro as of 31 December. The also generated net profit of 100 million euros in 2007.