Spanish bank Santander has announced the sale of its Colombian subsidiaries to the Chilean group CorpBanca for $1.23 billion.
Grupo Santander says it’s aiming to “strengthen its balance sheet” with the sale of Banco Santander Colombia.
Banco Santander Colombia and its other affiliates made a profit for the group of $54 million in 2010, which represents 0.5% of its total profit for the year.
Banco Santander Colombia has a market share of 2.7%. The president of Banco Santander Emilio Botin said, “Our share of the commercial banking market in Colombia is far from the 10% that we aspire to have in the countries where we are present.”
The deal is expected to be finalized by the first semester of 2012 and is subject to obtaining regulatory authorization and the carrying out of an exclusive initial public offering aimed at minority shareholders, who own 2.15% of the capital of the bank.
CorpBanca said in a separate statement it will hold a 95% interest in Banco Santander Colombia. The investment will be financed by its own resources and a capital increase of approximately $450 million.