Brazil's Ita� Unibanco Holding SA, Latin America's largest bank by market value, took a key step in its overseas expansion plan on Wednesday with a deal to take control of Chilean lender CorpBanca SA.Under the terms of the cash and stock transaction, Ita� will pump $652 million into its Chilean unit, and then combine it with CorpBanca, according to a securities filing. The combined entity, which will be named Ita� CorpBanca, will be majority held by the S�o Paulo-based lender and also will manage the Colombian subsidiaries of both lenders, the filing added.For Ita�, an association with CorpBanca would not only give it an important foothold in retail banking in Chile, but also provide a platform to grow in Colombia, South America's fastest-growing economy last year.For years Chief Executive Officer Roberto Egydio Setubal sought to purchase regional rivals, but backed off due to high valuations. Ita� began operations in Chile with the purchase of Fleet Boston Corp's local unit in 2006 and later HSBC Holdings Plc's operations in 2011.
CorpBanca is a Chile-based bank engaged in the provision of commercial and retail banking services. Shares of BCA traded higher by 0.1% or $0.02/share to $19.39. 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 61749.
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