Banco do Brazil
Interested In Argentina’s
Fourth Largest Bank
BRASILIA - Banco do Brazil (BB),
Latinamerica’s largest government-managed
bank, is in talks with Argentina’s Banco
Patagonia, seeking to expand
internationally, announced CEO Aldemir
Bendime.
The Brasilia-based lender apparently is
targeting Banco Patagonia, Argentina’s
fourth-largest bank by market value to
compete with its biggest rival Itau Unibanco
Holding which operates in the country.
“We have been going around the world after
opportunities” said Bendime in Brasilia. “We
are talking in Argentina with Banco
Patagonia and also with other players in
Latin America.”
The banks haven’t reached any agreement on a
possible partnership, BB said in a statement
Tuesday today. Any purchase would mark the
bank’s first acquisition outside of Brazil,
according to a spokesman in Brasilia.
Banco Patagonia of Buenos Aires said in a
separate statement to the local stock
exchange that it’s held talks in the last
year with BB and hasn’t reached any
“strategic” agreement.
Banco Patagonia with a market value of 2.51
billion pesos (657.5 million USD) trades at
6.28 times trailing 12-month earnings
compared with 14.6 times for the benchmark
Merval index,
Banco Patagonia, controlled by the Stuart
Milne family, was formed nine years ago
after Banco Mildesa bought Banco de Rio
Negro in 1996, according to the lender’s Web
site.
In 2003, Patagonia merged with Banco
Sudameris Argentina and the following year
bought former Lloyds TSB Bank Plc assets in
Argentina. Patagonia sold shares in initial
public offerings in Argentina and Brazil in
2007.
Patagonia has 154 branches in Argentina,
according to the bank’s press department. It
was the 12th largest bank in Argentina in
terms of deposits as of August, with 5.87
billion pesos, according to the central
bank’s Web site.
BB spent 11 billion Reais (6.3 billion USD)
in acquisitions in Brazil since May 2008,
including the purchases of Banco Nossa Caixa
SA and Banco Votorantim SA, according to the
lender’s press office.
BB already operates in 23 countries mostly
related to international trade, but it is
now interested in customer banking in those
places with a strong Brazilian presence such
as the United States. The bank is targeting
remittances.
BB shares are traded in New York following
changes introduced to increase foreign
investors’ participation from the current
12% to 20%.
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