MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bank of Nova Scotia confirms acquisition of leading institution in Uruguay

NBC Chief executive Horacio Correge

Bank of Nova Scotia, the Canadian bank that is aggressively expanding its presence in Latin America, is now pushing into Uruguay with the acquisition of private bank Nuevo Banco Comercial and consumer-finance company Pronto, it said on Monday.

Scotiabank is buying both lenders from an investor group led by global buyout firm Advent International. The Nuevo Banco Comercial (NBC) purchase will give Scotiabank the common shares of the bank, while the government will retain 40% control through its preferred share holding.

Scotiabank, Canada's No. 3 lender, did not disclose the purchase price, but said the additions would add immediately to earnings.

NBC is a Uruguay's No. 1 credit card provider and has the largest retail banking network in the country, Scotiabank said. Among private banks, it holds an 11% share of Uruguay's loans and deposits market with C$1.2 billion ($1.19 billion) in total deposits.

NBC Chief executive Horacio Correge said the acquisition would not mean big changes to the bank's management as Scotiabank shares its business focus.

At midday, the Scotiabank stock was outperforming its domestic peers with a 1.1 percent gain at C$56.25 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

“Scotiabank has ambitious plans for the Uruguay market,” Brian Porter, the head of the International Banking unit, said in a statement.

Pronto is Uruguay's market leader in personal loans with 37 branches, 480 employees, and about 200,000 clients.

Scotiabank has Latin American operations in Peru, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. It also has a growing presence in East Asia.

Scotiabank has been seeking international growth in wholesale banking unit and has separated its wealth management wing into its own division, and recently agreed to buy the 82% of DundeeWealth that it does not already own for C$2.3 billion.