Scottish Pacific sold to Allco and Balmain

St George Bank said it sold Scottish Pacific Group - stripped of the firm's invoice discounting business - to BA Venture, a joint venture between Balmain Commercial and Allco Finance Group.

The bank did not disclose terms in an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday but said it would have no impact on forecast earnings.

St George bought Scottish Pacific in 2000. The firm was founded in 1982.

The bank said having incorporated the invoice discounting business into St George's middle market business it was willing to sell the remaining debt factoring business.

Financial statements for Scottish Pacific Business Finance Holdings Pty filed with ASIC show the St George subsidiary made a net profit of $4.6 million in 2006, down from $5.7 million in 2005. The subsidiary paid St George a dividend of $10 million during the last financial year,

Receivables are listed as $253 million at September 2006, though what percentage St George will retain and the joint venture will buy isn't clear.