LONDON, TORONTO

Bank Of Nova Scotia has agreed to buy Spanish lender Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA’s stake in BBVA Chile for $2.2 billion in a move that would make Scotiabank Chile the country’s third largest privately-owned bank.

BBVA owns 68 per cent of BBVA Chile while the Said family of Chile owns another 29 per cent of the listed retail bank, which had a total market capitalisation of $2.2 billion on Tuesday.

BBVA said it would accept the offer, which values BBVA Chile at around $3.2 billion, if it was approved by the Said family.

The family has the right to sell its shares to Scotiabank under the same terms.

Scotiabank has the biggest foreign presence of any Canadian bank and has focused its international strategy on the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trading bloc comprising Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia.

Chief Executive Brian Porter said in September that the potential acquisition of BBVA’s retail business in Chile was a “once in a lifetime opportunity”.

The company said on Tuesday its acquisition of BBVA Chile would double its share of the Chilean market to 14 per cent.

Canada’s third-biggest lender also reported on Tuesday a 4 per cent rise in its fourth-quarter earnings, thanks to a strong performance across all its businesses.

The bank reported earnings per share of C$1.64 in the quarter ended Oct. 31, up from C$1.57 a year ago. Analysts had on average forecast earnings of C$1.66 per share, Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data showed.

Shares in BBVA, Spain’s second-biggest lender, were up 0.26 per cent at 7.09 euros at 1240 GMT on Tuesday.

BBVA said the sale would result in a net capital gain of 640 million euros ($760 million) and would improve its core tier 1 capital adequacy ratio, a measure of its financial strength, by 0.5 percentage points.

Several brokers, including Alantra, Keefe, Bruyette&Woods and UBS, said the deal would be positive for BBVA.

BBVA relies heavily on its subsidiary in Mexico to boost earnings and offset the squeeze on its margins at home in Spain where it is suffering from ultra low interest rates.

BBVA said in August it was looking at the possible sale of its Chilean retail bank after Scotiabank expressed an interest in buying it, although it had no plans to quit Chile altogether.

BBVA said on Tuesday that the offer from Scotiabank did not include its consumer finance unit in Chile.