2023-08-24 12:41:26
Itaú Unibanco decided to sell its operation in Argentina to Banco Macro, a local private institution, for R$250 million.
Itaú intends to maintain a representative office in the country. “We will continue to serve our corporate, wealth and private bank clients from our bank units in Brazil and in other external units”, said, in a statement, André Gailey, regional CEO of the bank in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Itaú has a small bank in Argentina – the 16th in total loans in Argentine pesos –, which serves mainly exporting companies in the country.
The bank’s vision is that it is possible to continue serving these corporate clients through a local office and external capital.
The retail operation in Argentina, which never had scale, is not profitable. “Between growing up and leaving, the decision was to leave”, says a person who accompanied the negotiations.
In Latin America, Itaú has larger wholesale and retail operations in Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. It also has a smaller bank in Colombia, which also faces the challenge of becoming profitable.
According to the statement released earlier, Macro becomes the largest private bank with Argentine capital in the country following the acquisition. Today, the institution has 565 branches and 9,400 employees. It is also listed on the Buenos Aires and New York stock exchanges.
Itaú informed that “it will submit for the approval of the regulatory entities, in Argentina and Brazil, a request for the constitution of a representative office to continue operating the activities permitted by its license and by the other conditions of the purchase and sale agreement with Macro”.
Giuliana Napolitano
1692903709
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