Buyout specialist Advent International has completed its $167 million acquisition of Nuevo Banco Comercial SA, the largest commercial bank in Uruguay. The deal was first announced in September and recently won approval from Uruguay’s central bank, the key financial services regulator in that country. Advent had originally predicted that the deal would close in December.
The Economist named Uruguay “country of the year” in 2013 acknowledging the innovative policy of legalizing the production, sale and consumption of cannabis. Same-sex marriage and abortion are also legal, leading Uruguay to be regarded as one of the most liberal nations in the world, and one of the most socially developed, outstanding regionally and performing well globally on personal rights, tolerance and inclusion issues.
Buyout specialist Advent International has completed its $167 million acquisition of Nuevo Banco Comercial SA, the largest commercial bank in Uruguay.
The deal was first announced in September and recently won approval from Uruguay’s central bank, the key financial services regulator in that country. Advent had originally predicted that the deal would close in December.
The move represents Advent’s seventh financial services investment in Latin America. In October, Boston-based Advent closed a new $375 million fund targeting Latin America, where it has invested a total of $1.3 billion in 28 companies since 1996.
Nuevo Banco was founded in 2002 by the Uruguayan government with the acquisitions of Banco Comercial, Banco de Montevideo and Banco Caja Obrera. Prior to that roll-up, the three banks had been suspended during Uruguay’s 2001-2002 banking crisis.
Advent said Nuevo Banco ended up securing the best assets from each bank: high-quality loan portfolios, prime branch locations, staff and infrastructure. The operation has about $1 billion in assets under management and offers a full suite of retail and corporate banking products and services.
Nuevo Banco is also Uruguay’s largest credit card issuer, commanding a 35 percent market share and managing more than 108,000 accounts.
A syndicate of co-investors also participated in the deal, including Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners. The Netherlands Development Finance Co. and Deutsche Investitions – und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, two of Europe’s largest economic development banks, also participated in the deal.
Founded in 1984, Advent International has raised more than $10 billion from nearly 200 corporate and institutional investors.
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