Ávila, Rodríguez, Hernández, Mena & Ferri in Miami, Garrigues in Madrid and Carey in Santiago have helped Chile’s Banco de Crédito e Inversiones (BCI) expand its presence in the US by acquiring Miami-based bank TotalBank from Santander for US$528 million.
Santander, which acquired TotalBank’s parent company Banco Popular in June, relied on Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP in New York. TotalBank is thought to have hired Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson in Miami, but this was not confirmed prior to publishing.
BCI made the purchase through its subsidiary, City National Bank of Florida (CNB), which it acquired in 2015, the first acquisition of a US bank by a Chilean counterpart.
CNB’s purchase of TotalBank fortifies BCI’s US presence even further – CNB will become the third-largest bank in Florida, with combined assets totalling some US$13 billion, and will be part of the top 2% of the US’s biggest national banks.
The transaction comes nearly six months after Santander bought Banco Popular for the nominal amount of €1 after EU authorities warned that Banco Popular was on the brink of insolvency.
CNB’s purchase was signed on 30 November, and is expected to close in the second semester of 2018, once it receives US and Chilean regulatory approvals.
Other cross-border M&A activity has taken place in the Latin American financial sector recently, most notably when global investment manager BlackRock bought Citigroup’s Mexican subsidiary Citibanamex. The deal involved some US$31 billion in assets under management and is expected to be finalised in the second semester of 2018.
Counsel to Banco de Crédito e Inversiones
In-house counsel – Fernando Carmash and José Miguel de la Cerda
Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena & Ferri LLP
Partners Alcides Ávila, Asnardo Garro and Javier Alvarez, and associates Alicia Lobeiras and Christopher Avila in Miami
Garrigues
Partner Rafael Gonzálerz-Gallarza in Madrid
Carey
Partner Francisco Ugarte and associates Luciano Aguilera, Felipe Astaburuaga and María Pilar Diez in Santiago
Counsel to City National Bank
In-house counsel – Marshall Martin
Counsel to Banco Santander
In-house counsel - Javier Illescas
Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP
Partner Joel Herold and associates Sasha Roshenthal-Larrea and Daniel Lin in New York
