Brazilian bank Ita� Unibanco Holding SA said it would acquire control of leading Chilean bank CorpBanca SA, a deal worth an estimated $3.7 billion that would help it expand beyond its stagnant home turf into more dynamic markets.The agreement, announced Wednesday, would not only give Ita� an important foothold in retail banking in Chile but also provide a way to grow in Colombia, South America's fastest-growing economy last year.The agreement calls for Ita� to pump $652 million into its Chilean unit and then combine it with CorpBanca. The new entity, which will be named Ita� CorpBanca, will be 50.5 percent-owned by the S�o Paulo-based lender and also will take over the Colombian units of both banks.Ita� CorpBanca will have a market value of $8 billion, $44 billion in assets, a $33 billion loan book, about 10,000 employees and 390 branches.
CorpBanca is a Chile-based bank engaged in the provision of commercial and retail banking services. Shares of BCA fell by 14.8% or $-2.87/share to $16.52. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $13.37 and as high as $22.80. On average, 89124 shares of BCA exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 430456.
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