MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Banco Itaú working its way out of Argentina

Itaú is in negotiations with Banco Macro for a buy-over

Banco Itaú is planning to close its operations in Argentina and is already in negotiations with Banco Macro S.A. for a buy-over, it was reported in Buenos Aires Tuesday.

Macro's shares on Wall Street and on the Buenos Aires stock exchange soared more than 12% and leads the Argentine stock rises both in New York and locally. Banco Macro is the fifth largest bank in Argentina in terms of assets, only behind Banco Nación, Banco Provincia, Banco Galicia, and Banco Santander, according to data from the Central Bank (BCRA), and has close to 500 branches nationwide.

Banco Macro, listed on the Buenos Aires and New York stock exchanges and one of the main private banks in Argentina, would take over in the short term the local operations of the Brazilian bank, which is the most important private lender in that country, and would add them to its wide network of branches in the country.

Itaú has operations in 19 countries in the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, although most of its revenues are concentrated in Brazil. It landed in Argentina in 1979 as a wholesale bank and in 1995 as a retail bank, a segment in which it solidified its presence after the purchase, three years later, of Banco del Buen Ayre.