Peru Pension Fund Selling Bank Stake

Peruvian pension fund Caja de Pensiones Militar Policial says it has hired Summa Asesores Financieros, based in the same country, and Chile’s IM Trust to advise on the sale of a stake in Banco de Comercio, in which it owns 99.99%. The investment banks will study 2 options. One is to sell the entire stake and the other is to raise cash by bringing in a strategic partner who could take up to 60.00% of the bank. A Lima-based legal M&A in Peru who is familiar with the seller and the target, says that Banco de Comercio is a small bank with less than 1.00% of market share. He adds that because the seller hired IM Trust, there is a possibility that Chilean companies may have shown interest. Other potential buyers, he says, are non-Peruvians like Itau that operate in several LatAm countries, private equity shops, and diversified Peruvian companies such as Grupo Gloria with holdings in different industries. Local banks are not expected to compete, since an acquisition would not significantly increase market share. Neither the seller, target nor their investment banks returned calls for comment Tuesday.