23rd Nov 2006 14:00
HSBC Holdings PLC23 November 2006 HSBC COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF GRUPO BANISTMO HSBC announced on 20 July 2006 that an agreement had been entered into withGrupo Banistmo S.A. (Banistmo), the leading banking group in Central America, to make a tender offer to acquire all the outstanding shares of Banistmo for cash. HSBC has today completed the acquisition of 99.98 per cent of outstanding Banistmo shares for a total consideration of approximately US$1.77 billion. The acquisition of Banistmo complements HSBC's existing operations in theregion, in particular in Panama where HSBC already provides services to personaland corporate customers through 19 branches. This acquisition will enable HSBC to better serve the needs of its regional andinternational customers. It also establishes a presence in five new markets forHSBC - Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua - and providesaccess to a total population of 83 million people. Notes to editors: 1. The offer expired at 5:00 pm Panama time on Wednesday, 22 November 2006.33,623,973 shares, which represent 99.98 per cent of the total capital stock ofGrupo Banistmo, were validly tendered and accepted for payment. The offer price was US$52.63 per share in cash for each outstanding share. Thetotal offer consideration to be paid by HSBC for the tendered shares is approximately US$1.77 billion. All conditions for completion of the offer were met and HSBC obtained all theregulatory approvals required in connection with the offer. 2. HSBC in PanamaHSBC has been present in Panama since 1972. HSBC Bank (Panama) S.A. has 19branches and 75 ATMs, distributed among the cities of Panama, Colon, Aguadulce,Chitre and David, providing a full range of banking products and servicesincluding commercial and consumer banking, HSBC Premier, private banking andcorporate banking. In 2005, HSBC Bank (Panama) S.A. acquired the entire sharecapital of the Financomer Group in Panama for a cash consideration ofUS$21 million. 3. HSBC Holdings plcThe HSBC Group serves over 125 million customers worldwide through some 9,500offices in 76 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, theAmericas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$1,738 billionat 30 June 2006, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financialservices organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'. 4. Grupo Banistmo, S.A.Grupo Banistmo is the leading banking group in Central America, with operationsin Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Bahamas. At 31 December 2005, Grupo Banistmo had assets of US$6,973 million and shareholders' funds of US$695 million. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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