BNP Paribas has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs to potentially sell California-based Bank of the West, Reuters reported on Monday. Citing people familiar with the deal, the news service reported that BNP Paribas seeks to retreat from the American retail banking market in a deal that could value the business at $15 billion. The 147-year old Bank of the West runs 531 branches, mostly in the West and Midwest. BNP acquired the business in 1979 and combined it with its local subsidiary, the French Bank of California (FBC). The Bank of the West ranks as the largest business owned by BNP Paribas outside Europe.
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