Scotiabank To Buy Citibank's Colombian Consumer, Small And Medium Enterprise Businesses

Scotiabank’s Colombian subsidiary Banco Colpatria Multibanca Colpatria has agreed to acquire Citibank’s consumer and small and medium enterprise businesses in Colombia.

Scotiabank and Mercantil Colpatria will invest proportionately to sustain their existing ownership levels in Banco Colpatria.

Citibank has 47 branches and 424 self-service access points in Colombia. The deal also includes the transfer of Citibank's employees into Banco Colpatria.

The acquisition will help Banco Colpatria to expand its credit card business with the addition of over 500,000 new customers.

All operations, branches, and products will continue to operate as usual until the transaction secures regulatory approval.

Citi Colombia country head and Latin America North cluster head Alvaro Jaramillo said: "We believe that this transaction with Scotiabank and Banco Colpatria is in the best interest of our consumer clients, employees and shareholders.”

Scotiabank international banking and digital transformation group head Nacho Deschamps said: "We're excited about this acquisition because it will allow us to serve new customers in Colombia and it is in line with Scotiabank's strategy to increase scale within the Colombian banking sector, as well as the other Pacific Alliance economies of Mexico, Chile and Peru.”

In 2012, Banco Colpatria purchased 51% stake in Banco Colpatria, which provides services to over 1.5 million retail, corporate and commercial customers.

Scotiabank serves more than 2.7 million customers through its pension fund management company Colfondos.

The bank group has opened new digital factories in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, as part of efforts to expand its business in the Pacific Alliance countries.

In December 2017, Scotiabank agreed to purchase 68.19% stake in BBVA Chile from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) for around $2.2bn.

BBVA is a multinational Spanish banking group, which was formed through a merger of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya and Argentaria.

Image: Scotiabank to acquire Citibank’s consumer and small and medium enterprise businesses in Colombia. Photo: courtesy of Scotiabank.