Itaú Buys Credicard for Almost US$1.5 Billion
The largest private bank, Itaú, banged the gavel and closed the purchase of Credicard, the oldest and best known credit card issuer in the country, for almost R$3 billion (US$ 1.5 billion).
Among the interested parties, Itaú made by far the best financial offer for Credicard. a company in which it had shares until 2006. The offer from Itaú ended up beating those of rivals Bradesco and Santander, which also submitted bids.
Itaú was already the largest issuer of credit and debit cards in the country, with about 30% of the market, and did not want to lose the position to Bradesco, which has 20%.
With 10% market share and 4.8 million cards, Credicard was offered for sale at the beginning of this year by Citibank, which decided to restrict its operations in Brazil to high-income customers.
In addition to the cards, Credicard also has about a hundred stores, making personal loans and popular finance.
The company has about 1,200 employees.
(Toni Sciarretta, translated by Dave Wolin | Folha de S. Paulo)
