Bancolombia SA, Colombia's largest lender by assets, agreed to purchase HSBC Bank SA Panama for $2.1 billion, the most ever paid by a local bank and the latest in an expansion wave by Colombian companies into Latin America.The acquisition includes HSBC Panama's brokerage, fiduciary services unit, banking business and its insurance company, Bancolombia said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.Although Colombia's economy is beginning to slow, the banking sector remains robust and has expanded internationally in the last few years, demonstrating its increased clout in the region after Colombia was awarded investment grade in 2011."The transaction is aligned with Bancolombia's strategy to expand its international operations by investing in the growing, solid and profitable market of Panama, where it has been present for over 40 years," Bancolombia said in the statement.
Bancolombia SA is a Colombia-based financial institution primarily engaged, together with its subsidiaries, in the banking sector. Shares of CIB fell by 2.78% or $-1.91/share to $66.74. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $53.78 and as high as $70.62. On average, 284125 shares of CIB exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 220538.
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