Credit Agricole Selling Uruguay Bank

French bank Credit Agricole says it has entered into exclusive negotiations to sell Credit Uruguay Banco to Spain’s BBVA. The divestment is part of Credit Agricole’s strategy to focus on banking operations in Europe. The seller does not say how much BBVA is offering for the bank. Credit Agricole has 36 branches in Uruguay and says that at the end of 2009, it held approximately $1.25bn in assets and $1.17bn of liabilities. Besides Uruguay, in LatAm Credit Agricole has operations in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela.