Alcogal assisted Imperia Intercontinental Inc., parent company of Banco Cuscatlán El Salvador, in connection with a US$100 million credit and guarantee agreement entered into with Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (Bladex) and JP Morgan Chase, as lead arrangers, and the lenders thereto in order to finance the acquisition by Imperia of Scotiabank’s banking and insurance operations in El Salvador.
This significant transaction closed in January 2020.
Partner Arturo Gerbaud, together with senior associate Rita de la Guardia, were in charge of this transaction for Alcogal.
Consortium Legal advised Imperia Intercontinental Inc.
Torys LLP was lead counsel for The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank).
In El Salvador, Scotiabank was represented by Arias.
About the Sale
The sale included Scotiabank‘s banking and insurance operations in El Salvador, including Scotiabank El Salvador, its subsidiaries and Scotia Seguros, to Imperia Intercontinental Inc., who is the main shareholder of Banco Cuscatlán S. A. and Seguros e Inversiones S.A. – SISA in El Salvador.
This transaction supports Scotiabank‘s strategic decision to focus on operations on other markets where it can achieve greater scale and deliver the best value for customers. Scotiabank will continue operating in Central America, including Costa Rica and Panama. Scotiabank has over 2,700 employees across these countries serving more than 245,000 customers in these markets.
This transaction is expected to result in an after-tax loss of approximately $170 million, which primarily represents the carrying value of goodwill relating to this business.
Scotiabank began operating in El Salvador in 1997. The sale follows others in nine countries in the Caribbean, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Dominican Republic.
About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is Canada’s international bank, and is one the leading banks in the Americas, With a team of more than 100,000 employees and assets of over $1 trillion (as at October 31, 2019).
Scotiabank serves its 25 million customers with a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets.
Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS).
About Banco CUSCATLAN
Banco Cuscatlán is one of the principal banks in El Salvador. It has locations with about 1,800 employees throughout El Salvador. In 2019 it was recognized as the Best Bank in El Salvador by the prestigious specialized magazines Global Finance and Euromoney and as Bank of the Year by Latin Finance.
About SISA Seguros e Inversiones, S.A.
Seguros e Inversiones, S.A. – SISA, is the leading company in the insurance market in El Salvador. It was founded in 1962, and for 22 years has maintained the highest national market share. Its leadership is also reflected in the strength of its assets, the highest in the industry. Its financial stability and high payment capacity are reflected in its AA+ risk rating, issued by Fitch Ratings on April 11, 2019.
Panama Banking Lawyers
Our Panama banking lawyers advises many of the world’s largest and most sophisticated financial institutions on a full-range of banking, securities and related regulatory matters in the Republic of Panama.
Alcogal is an acknowledged industry leader in the banking and finance sectors and has been involved in Panama’s largest and most complex financial transactions.
We represent many of the local and global leading financial institutions in both cross-border and domestic bank financing, as well as in other forms of acquisition and project financing.
