trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/sVfgRLg7BbVj7KKZmJ2Frw2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Report: BBVA abandons sale of Chilean automobile financing business

Podcast

Street Talk Episode 87

Blog

A New Dawn for European Bank M&A Top 5 Trends

Blog

Insight Weekly: US banks' loan growth; record share buybacks; utility M&A outlook

Blog

Banking Essentials Newsletter 2021: December Edition


Report: BBVA abandons sale of Chilean automobile financing business

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA has decided to cancel the planned sale of its Chilean automobile financing unit as the Spanish bank believes retaining ownership of the subsidiary will generate more value for shareholders, Diario Financiero reported, citing unnamed sources.

BBVA likely received offers of about €600 million for Chilean unit FORUM Servicios Financieros SA, according to the report. However, the bank believes it can extract more value from the business and is not urgently in need of a sale, the sources said.

The Spanish banking giant did not immediately return a request for comment from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

According to a previous report, the bank was seeking an estimated $1 billion for FORUM, which it described as "a highly attractive business" when it put the unit up for sale in late 2018. BBVA reportedly rejected a bid of $700 million from Banco de Chile.

More recently, FORUM was unable to renew a commercial partnership with Japanese carmaker Nissan. Although FORUM still has agreements in place with more than a dozen other car brands, industry executives said at the time that the end of the Nissan deal might complicate BBVA's efforts to sell the subsidiary.

FORUM financed the purchase of almost 25% of the cars sold in Chile in 2018, Diario Financiero noted. It currently holds a 32.8% share of Chile's automobile financing market, compared to 21.4% for its closest competitor.

The decision to cancel the FORUM sale means BBVA will retain a presence in Chile. The Spanish lender sold its Chilean banking unit to Bank of Nova Scotia last year.