Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd. said April 7 thatprivate banking subsidiary Bankof Singapore Ltd. agreed to acquire the wealth and investmentmanagement business of BarclaysBank Plc in Singapore and Hong Kong for about US$320 million.

Acquiring the wealth and investment management business of 's banking division furthersOCBC's strategic goal of deepening its presence in Singapore, Malaysia,Indonesia and China. The business brings with it a base of more than 1,800clients, with total assets under management of US$18.3 billion as of Dec. 31,2015.

OCBC beat out another Singapore lender, , which wasreportedly the likelybuyer of Barclays' wealth management operations.

The acquisition is expected to be accretive to OCBC's EPSand return on equity after the first year.

The transaction, subject to approval by the Singapore HighCourt, is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.