Scotiabank says it has bought a nearly 70 percent interest in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA) of Chile for $2.9 billion. Scotia says it intends to merge BBVA Chile with its existing Scotiabank Chilean operations, subject to regulatory approvals. Chile’s Said family, which owns 31.62 per cent of BBVA Chile, has waived its right of first refusal to acquire the share being sold to ScotiaBank, but is willing to spend up to $650 million to own up to 25 per cent of the combined business when Scotiabank Chile and BBVA Chile are merged. When the deal was announced last week, Scotiabank said the transaction is in line with its goal of increasing scale within the Chilean banking sector and the Pacific Alliance countries.
SCOTIA IN THE CARIBBEAN
Travellers to the Caribbean are familiar with the presence of Scotiabank there. BNS has been part of the Caribbean and Central America region since 1889. The first office was in Kingston, Jamaica to support the rum, sugar, and fish trade. Now it has operations in 25 countries, including affiliates. It has operations in Central America in Costa Rica, Belize, Panama and El Salvador.
