Chile's Corpbanca buys Colombia's Helm in $1.3 billion

Corpbanca, the lender controlled by Chilean billionaire Alvaro Saieh, agreed to buy Helm Bank for $1.28 billion to become the sixth-biggest bank in Colombia.

Corpbanca signed an agreement with the owners of 91 percent of Helm’s ordinary shares and will make an offer to minority holders in Colombia for the rest of the shares, according to a statement sent to Chile’s securities regulator.

The Chilean bank has led acquisitions in Colombia worth $2.53 billion since agreeing to buy Banco Santander’s local unit in December as it seeks to tap growth.


Source: Bloomberg