Crédit Agricole has agreed to sell Credit Uruguay Banco, its retail banking subsidiary which includes a private banking arm, to BBVA Uruguay.

Crédit Agricole first announced that it had begun looking for a buyer in October of last year, as part of a drive to refocus its operations on Europe and the Mediterranean area. It then entered exclusive talks with BBVA at the end of this January, ending speculation which linked banks including HSBC, Itaú Unibanco and Nuevo Banco Comercial to the sale.

Crédit Uruguay Banco, which has 36 branches and close to 500 employees, holds some $1 billion in total assets and is said to be the country’s third-largest private sector bank.

The deal, for which terms were not disclosed, remains subject to approval from the financial and regulatory authorities of Uruguay and Spain, the bank said in a statement.

Crédit Agricole is far from alone in moving to offload assets in order to refocus on domestic markets following the financial crisis. Several banks have made such sales, either to boost their balance sheets or to satisfy regulatory requirements over the receipt of state aid.