HSBC Declines Comment on Guatemala Rumors

HSBC declined to comment on rumors that it is working on an acquisition of Guatemala’s G&T Continental. After its $1.77bn all-cash purchase of Panama’s Banistmo in September 2006, HSBC has become a significant force in Central America, alongside Citi, which bought El Salvador’s Grupo Cuscatlán for $1.5 billion shortly after. Banistmo gave it more than 200 branches spread over Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and Colombia. G&T would fill the Guatemala gap. Rumors regarding other big international banks eyeing Guatemalan financial institutions, some for multiples as high as 3x book value, have been making the rounds for weeks.