Ita� Unibanco Holding SA, Latin American's largest bank by market value, and Chilean lender CorpBanca SA could announce a partnership as early as Wednesday, sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters.S�o Paulo-based Ita� and CorpBanca, controlled by billionaire Alvaro Saieh, would create a new company and merge assets in Chile and Colombia, according to two of the sources, who declined to be identified because the deal has not been finalized.Under the terms of the deal, Ita� would control 50.5 percent of the new company, said one source. In recent years Ita� has resorted to partnerships, such as the payroll lending venture with Banco BMG SA and an insurance joint operation with Porto Seguro SA, to avoid the difficulties that might crop up from a full combination.For Ita�, an association with CorpBanca would not only open a significant window of opportunity into retail banking in Chile, but also provide a platform to grow in Colombia, South America's fastest-growing economy last year.
CorpBanca is a Chile-based bank engaged in the provision of commercial and retail banking services. Shares of BCA traded higher by 0.46% or $0.09/share to $19.46. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $13.37 and as high as $22.80. On average, 88923 shares of BCA exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 41572.
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