Brazil's largest state-owned bank, Bank of Brazil, announced on Friday the acquisition of 49 percent of rival Votorantim Bank for 4.2 billion reais (1.83 billion U.S. dollars), Xinhua reported.
The purchase was completed after several months of negotiations. With the acquisition, Bank of Brazil expects to increase its participation in the vehicle financing sector, in which the Votorantim Bank has 12 percent of market share.
Bank of Brazil has recently carried out several acquisitions, and the latest one was the purchase of Sao Paulo state-controlled bank Nossa Caixa for 5.3 billion reais (2.3 billion dollars) in late November.
The bank is trying to expand and resume its leadership in the Brazilian banking industry, which was lost after the merger of private banks Itau and Unibanco last year. The merger created the largest bank of the Southern Hemisphere, with assets of 575 billion reais (251 billion dollars).
With the acquisition of Votorantim Bank, Bank of Brazil's assets will total 553 billion reais (241 billion dollars).
The presidents of Bank of Brazil and Votorantim said the acquisition had nothing to do with the international financial crisis, and is not meant to save Votorantim Bank. The purchase, they said, will be beneficial to both parties.
"We will now be able to offer more credit," said Votorantim President Jose Ermirio de Moraes Neto.