Criteria CaixaCorp, the investment company owned by Spain's biggest savings bank, agreed to buy 20 per cent of Carlos Slim's Grupo Financiero Inbursa SA for €1.5 billion ($2.4 billion) to tap economic growth in Mexico.
Criteria will pay 38.5 pesos ($3.71) a share for the holding, as it takes part in a bigger stock sale by Mexico City-based Inbursa, the Spanish company said today in a filing. That's a premium of 8.6 per cent on the May 23rd closing price.
The unit of Barcelona-based La Caixa, which holds stakes in businesses worth about €24 billion, is buying the stock in Inbursa to diversify into a major Spanish-speaking country as the bank faces the increasing chance of a recession at home.
La Caixa joins Spain's Banco Santander SA and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA in investing in Mexico, as more workers in the country are escaping poverty and using financial services.
"Getting into Mexico looks like a good option because it's a high-growth market and banking is an area that Criteria should focus on," said Alberto Espelosin, a strategist at Zaragoza, Spain-based Ibercaja Gestion.
The Inbursa stake will also become a vehicle for expansion in the Americas, Criteria said, without giving further details. The unit is seeking to invest in Asia and central and eastern Europe as well as in Spanish-speaking countries.
Criteria rose 6 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to €4.30 as of 11.30am in Madrid trading.
Bloomberg
Bloomberg