Inbursa in its Acquisition of Brazilian Banking Unit of Standard Bank

Cleary Gottlieb is representing Grupo Financiero Inbursa SAB in its acquisition of Banco Standard de Investimentos, the Brazilian banking subsidiary of South Africa’s Standard Bank. The transaction, which was announced on 14 March, is expected to close before year-end 2014, pending regulatory approvals.

Inbursa is Mexico’s sixth-largest bank with around 482 billion pesos ($36.4 billion) in assets. Its shares are listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange. Its main activities are structured in four business lines: commercial banking, asset management, insurance and investment banking. The transaction will be a key step in its expansion into the Brazilian market.

Standard Bank Group is one of South Africa’s largest financial services groups and Africa’s largest lender by assets. Its shares are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Its Brazilian unit has been involved in structured finance, metals trading, commodity finance, foreign-exchange transactions and derivatives trading.