Chile's CorpBanca takes over Colombia's Helm Bank

Chile’s CorpBanca takes over Colombia’s Helm Bank

CorpBanca, has announced it has acquired Helm Bank, Colombia's 9th largest bank by assets, through a merger between it and the parent company's Colombian subsidiary, Banco CorpBanca Colombia.

CorpBanca, has announced it has acquired Helm Bank, Colombia’s 9th largest bank by assets, through a merger between it and the parent company’s Colombian subsidiary, Banco CorpBanca Colombia.

Banco CorpBanca Colombia, the country’s 12th largest bank by assets, now has 51.6 % of total shares in Helm Bank, acquiring control over Helm’s subsidiaries in Panama and the Cayman Islands.

The deal was closed on August 6th after regulatory authorisations was received from the relevant agencies in Chile, Colombia, Panama and the Cayman Islands.

As a result of the merger CorpBanca Colombia will become the 5th largest in Colombia in terms of loans.

CorpBanca Colombia said in a statement: "We believe that the Colombian banking industry has great potential for growth. As of May 2013, Banco CorpBanca Colombia held 3.0% of the market participation in loans and 2.6% in total deposits from the public. Banco CorpBanca Colombia has shown increasing returns, registering an average equity return of 24.3% for the 12 months ending May 2013."

Initially the CorpBanca Colombia and Helm Bank will continue to operate separately but CorpBanca has already selected a management team for the new integrated bank.

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