Banco Sudameris made a splash in the Paraguayan banking market by acquiring a rival to become the largest lender in the country in 2023.
The bank made the leap by absorbing Banco Regional, a leading local bank. The deal, announced in late 2022, is set to turn Sudameris into the largest bank in the country by assets, at roughly $5 billion. It will also consolidate the group as one of the top players in the market of business banking in Paraguay.
Market analysts have stressed that the new, merged entity will have important synergies in the segment, as Sudameris has a strong presence in corporate banking, while Banco Regional is a traditionally strong player in Paraguay’s vital agribusiness sector.
Statistics from Paraguay’s central bank show that, in June, the new group would add to a combined 18.5% of all the assets in the country’s banking sector, topping the local ranking.
The combined credit portfolio amounts to more than one fifth of the market, also lifting the combined group to the first place in the league table. The sum of the profits of the two banks reached 254 billion guaraníes, the third largest in the country.
“The merged Sudameris will position itself as a leader in the markets of banking services for agricultural, cattle raising, industrial and service companies,” Fitch Ratings noted in a report.