Banco de Bogotá to acquire Itaú's client portfolio in Colombia and Panama

Colombian conglomerate Grupo Aval, which includes Banco de Bogotá, announced on Monday that it has reached an agreement to acquire the client portfolio of the 'natural person business' of the Brazilian bank Itaú in Colombia and Panama. 'We trust in Colombia and the potential of its economy, and we will continue to advance with discipline to generate value and accompany the progress of our clients,' added Prado. 'This new prioritization contemplates the signing of an agreement to sell assets and liabilities focused on retail banking in Colombia and Panama to Banco de Bogotá and Banco de Bogotá Panama in a process that was communicated today to the market and the Financial Superintendence.' Despite this decision, Itaú stated that it has a 'commitment to the future' of Colombia and a 'vision of long-term permanence,' so it will call 'a shareholders' meeting to decree a capital increase of up to 100 million dollars, with the aim of accelerating the bank's growth and further strengthening its competitiveness in the country's market.' 'The perfection and closing of this transaction is subject to prior approval from the Colombian Financial Superintendence,' explained the Brazilian bank. The president of Banco de Bogotá, César Prado, pointed out that the operation is integrated into the entity's 'corporate strategy' and allows them to 'significantly strengthen' their 'participation in the natural persons segment.' With this operation, the Colombian bank seeks to acquire the assets and liabilities of some 267,000 clients, which can amount, according to their estimates, to 6.5 trillion pesos (about 1.7 billion dollars) in consumer and housing loans and 4.1 trillion pesos (about 1.079 billion dollars) in deposits. Once the transaction is closed, the entity will have an additional market share in Colombian banking of 1.7% in the consumer portfolio, 2.6% in the housing portfolio, and 1.7% in natural person deposits. Additionally, it has a presence in Panama through the operation of Multi Financial Group. Grupo Aval, to which Banco de Bogotá belongs, also includes the banks of Occidente, Popular, and AV Villas; the investment banking businesses of Aval Casa de Bolsa and Aval Fiduciaria; the pension and severance fund Porvenir, and the financial corporation Corficolombiana. Itaú, for its part, stated in a press release that this operation is part of 'a process of adjustment in its strategy to focus its operations on Itaú Corporate, which groups all business of legal entities in Colombia and Panama, in treasury, and in the subsidiaries Itaú Comisionista de Bolsa, Itaú Fiduciaria, and Itaú Panama.' 'It is a step that improves our scale, complements our portfolio, and reinforces the solidity with which we compete in this market.'