Brazilian banking major Banco Bradesco has agreed to acquire BAC Florida Bank, a South Florida-based community bank, from Grupo Pellas for about $500m.
Image: BAC Florida Bank to be acquired by Banco Bradesco. Photo: courtesy of Andrevruas/Wikimedia Commons.
The acquisition of BAC Florida will help Bradesco grow its offering of investments to its high net worth and affluent clients in the US.
Furthermore, it will expand its other banking services like checking account, credit card and real estate financing.
The Brazilian banking group said that the acquisition will also give it scope to expand its business pertaining to corporate and institutional clients.
Bradesco revealed that Florida is a strategic region for its expansion plans for being a major financial hub for Brazilian, Latin American and local clients. The Brazilian firm said that the size of the Florida market, logistical convenience and time zone make it an attractive and logical region for its expansion plans.
Bradesco CEO Octavio de Lazari said: “Expanding our product and service offerings through BAC Florida is a way of being the preferred wealth management bank for our clients, who have increasingly demanded more diversification and greater access to global solutions.”
Headquartered in Coral Gables, BAC Florida has been operating in the US for more than 45 years. The Florida-based bank caters to its customers both domestically and internationally with a range of financial services, particularly for high net worth non-resident individuals.
As of 31 December 2018, the bank reported total assets of $2.23bn, shareholders’ equity of $205.9m and net income of $29.4m.
BAC Florida president and CEO Julio Rojas said: “We are excited to be part of Bradesco, one of the region’s largest Banks and a leading financial institution in several fronts. Our clients and stakeholders will benefit by the expanded capabilities, resources and extensive product and geographic reach of Bradesco’s platform.”
Closing of the transaction will be subject to approvals from Brazilian and US regulatory authorities and the fulfillment of legal formalities.
Last month, BAC Florida joined the CCRManager FinTech platform in a move to accelerate its digitalization efforts and to provide more effective service to its corporate and institutional clients.