- Scotiabank (NYSE:BNS) is buying a 51% stake in Chilean retailer Cencosud's financial services unit for C$300M ($278M).
- The business handles 2.5M credit cards and over $1.2B in outstanding balances; its acquisition will make Scotiabank the #3 credit card provider in Chile.
- As part of the deal, Scotiabank and Cencosud are entering into a 15-year partnership to "manage the credit card business and provide additional products and services to customers of both organizations."
- Scotiabank already has ~3.8K employees, 130 branches, and 166 ABMs in Chile. EVP Wendy Hannam calls the purchase "consistent with [Scotiabank's] focus on growing in key markets in Latin America."