Bancolombia acquires auto lender for US$27mn

Colombia's largest bank Bancolombia (NYSE: CIB) has acquired local auto-financing company Suramericana de Financiamiento Comercial (Sufinanciamiento) for 75bn pesos (US$27mn), the bank said in a statement. Bancolombia said it acquired 94.89% of the shares in Sufinanciamiento from the following companies: Portafolio de Inversiones Suramericana, Compania Suramericana de Inversiones Suramericana, Compania Suramericana de Construcciones, Fundacion Suramericana and Corporacion Financiera Nacional y Suramericana (Corfinsura). The remaining shares were picked up by Bancolombia subsidiaries. The local auto financing business has improved this year along with the economy, which has boosted the sale of both new and used cars, banking analyst Leonardo Bravo at local ratings agency BRC Investor Services told BNamericas. As the economy is set to continue to perform well next year, the auto-financing segment will become an even more attractive business in 2004, he added. Colombia's banking regulator approved the Sufinanciamiento takeover on December 24. Bancolombia is the largest bank in the Colombian financial system in terms of overall market share and it is the only Colombian bank to list on the New York Stock Exchange.