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Empresas y finanzas

H&R Block to sell bank unit to BofI Federal Bank


    (Reuters) - U.S. tax preparer H&R Block Inc said it would sell some assets and transfer certain liabilities of its bank unit to BofI Federal Bank , nearly six months after being forced to end an earlier deal to divest the division.

    The company's shares rose about 7.5 percent after the bell.

    BofI Federal Bank, which operates from a single location headquartered in San Diego, California, is a unit of BofI Holding Inc .

    BofI Holding shares were up 7 percent in extended trading.

    H&R Block has been seeking strategic alternatives for H&R Block Bank since October 2012 to avoid a sharp rise in costs associated with the introduction of stricter banking rules by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

    The company said in July it would sell its banking assets to a unit of Republic Bancorp Inc but failed to close the deal in October as it could not get regulatory approvals.

    H&R Block said on Thursday it expected the transaction to dilute its earnings by about 7-9 cents per share beginning in fiscal 2015.

    The company also expected to incur a related one-time charge of about 1 cent per share in 2014 and about 2-3 cents per share in 2015.

    Goldman Sachs & Co and First Annapolis Consulting Inc were the financial advisers to H&R Block.

    H&R Block shares closed at $28.42 on the New York Stock Exchange, while BofI Holding closed at $74.44 on the Nasdaq.

    (Reporting by Avik Das in Bangalore; Editing by Simon Jennings and Sriraj Kalluvila)