Italians Pull out of Banorte

Assicurazioni Generali has agreed to sell minority stakes in Seguros Banorte Generali and Pensiones Banorte Generali to Grupo Financiero Banorte for $857.5m, it says. Banorte takes full control of the subsidiaries. Looking to boost its solvency ratio back home, the Italian exits its 49% positions in the pension and insurance businesses, booking a EUR500m ($664m) gain. The disposal of the stake in Seguros Banorte Generali accounted for the bulk of the deal, at $637m, a value that implies a multiple of 18x 2012 earnings, Generali says. The deal follows an offer from Banorte. The move takes Generali past 50% of a EUR4.0bn asset disposal plan by 2015. The company notes it still considers Latin America as an “attractive market,” and would like to continue developing business there, particularly in Brazil. In November of last year, Banorte agreed to acquire BBVA’s Mexican pension operations for $1.6bn, becoming Mexico’s largest pension manager.