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GE Unit to Acquire 49.9% BAC
General Electric's GE Consumer
Finance unit said on Thursday it
would acquire 49.9% of BAC
International Bank Inc., a
privately held retail bank and
credit card issuer based in
Panama, allowing it to expand in
Central America.
Terms were not disclosed by GE,
but the Wall Street Journal,
citing people familiar with the
deal, reported GE would pay
about us$500 million for the
stake in BAC.
GE said the transaction is
expected to close in the next
few months, pending required
regulatory approvals.
BAC has about us$1.9 billion in
deposits and us$1.7 billion in
consumer credit card and other
loans. It has 178 branches in
countries including
Costa Rica,
El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
Mark Begor, chief executive of
GE Consumer Finance, told the
Journal the company had been
looking at Central America for
more than four years, waiting
for the right opportunity.
"It's an attractive place to
grow," he said.
GE also has options to
eventually acquire a further
stake in the bank, Begor told
the newspaper.
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