Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world's biggest lender by market value, said Friday it had agreed to pay 600 million U.S. dollars to take a lion's share of assets controlled by Standard Bank Group Ltd. in Argentina, to extend its businesses in South America.

The Chinese bank will acquire 80 percent of Standard Bank Argentina and its two affiliates, a fund management company and a business service provider, from Standard Bank London Holdings Plc (SBL), a unit of the Johannesburg-based lender, and two Argentina shareholders, the Werthein Sielecki families.

The shares SBL holds will be reduced to 20 percent.

This move will allow ICBC to hold a commercial bank license in Argentina, which will make it the first Chinese financial institution to enter the market.

The acquisition would extend ICBC's networks and businesses in South America and allow it to better serve the booming bilateral trade between China and Argentina, said ICBC president Jiang Jianqing.

The sale of the Argentina unit is in line with Standard Bank's re-alignment of its strategy, which is to reduce capital investment outside Africa, said the Johannesburg-based lender's CEO Jacko Maree.

ICBC is also looking to open branches in Brazil and Peru this year.

Standard Bank Argentina is the 12th-largest by asset value in the country. It possesses licenses in all banking businesses, including retail banking, corporate banking and investment banking.

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