BBVA considers bid for HSBC’s Brazil, Turkey units: Report

MADRID - Reuters

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Spanish bank BBVA is considering making an offer for British bank HSBC’s businesses in Brazil and Turkey, senior bank executive Vicente Rodero said at an annual meeting in Mexico City, website CNNExpansion reported on June 10.

“We’ve looked at HSBC’s operations in Turkey and Brazil. They wouldn’t be easy deals. We are going to see, and if we get the opportunity we’ll go for it,” Rodero, head of BBVA global franchises, said according to the website.

A BBVA spokesman in Madrid could not confirm Rodero’s remarks and when asked if the bank was interested in the HSBC businesses, said it was the bank’s duty to look at every opportunity.

HSBC said on June 9 it would sell its businesses in Brazil and Turkey, where it is the sixth and the 12th biggest bank respectively, as part of a huge overhaul involving cutting almost 50,000 jobs. The businesses could fetch more than $4 billion for the pair.

BBVA does not have a Brazilian unit, but has a non-controlling stake in Turkish lender Garanti Bank.

Meanwhile, BBVA’s larger rival Santander, which already has a thriving business in Brazil, said in May it would look into buying HSBC’s unit in the Latin American company.