Australia's fourth-biggest bank ANZ Group has agreed to sell 16.5% of the issued capital in AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank) via a block trade at a price of RM3.85 per share.

The sale would reduce ANZ's shareholding in AmBank from 21.7% to 5.2% and was in line with ANZ's strategy of simplifying the bank, the Aussie said in a statement released today

Following the sale, ANZ said it would continue to have one nominated director on the AmBank board.

The current ANZ's representation on the AMMB board is Robert William Goudswaard, who was the CEO of Great Southern Bank, formerly known as Credit Union Australia and Australia's largest credit union, until 2019.

ANZ Group Holdings Ltd was deemed a substantial shareholder of AMMB by virtue of its indirect shareholding in ANZ Funds Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ANZ Group Holdings Ltd.

The sale of the block comes some three years after the Malaysian-listed financial group announced a RM2.83-billion global settlement on all outstanding claims and actions in relation to the AmBank Group's involvement in the 1MDB matter.

The settlement was part of the Malaysian Government's continuing recovery efforts that it was pursuing against all parties directly or indirectly involved in 1MDB and its related entities, according to Malaysia's finance ministry statement released on Feb 26, 2021.

AMMB shares were down 21 sen to RM3.99 at 11.25am. The shares have been trading between RM4.45 and RM3.42 in the last 52-week.