The Grupo Financiero Galicia, controller of Banco Galicia, completed this Friday the purchase of the HSBC group in Argentina. The purchased package is made up of the banco, the Manager of Common Investment Funds and the companies retirement and life insurance. Yesterday was a key day, because finally, the technological separation of HSBC Argentina from HSBC Global, which allowed the completion of the operation.
The transaction had been made public on April 9, and was approved by the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic on September 12. The operation has a special meaning for Galicia’s controllers, bank sources told Clarín. In 2001, in the days before the fall of Convertibility, HSBC was on the verge of buying Galicia.
As reported by the Galicia Group at the time, The total price of the operation was 550 million dollars. US$275 million were paid in cash and the rest was paid with 11,78 millones de American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) by Grupo Financiero Galicia. At the time the sale price was agreed, Grupo Galicia’s ADRs were trading at $24. Yesterday, they closed at 58.76 (144% more). HSBC signed a commitment that it cannot sell these papers for six months. ADRs are the group’s shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Additionally, a price adjustment was made in accordance with an agreed mechanism.
This operation will make Banco Galicia the largest private bank in Argentina, both in terms of deposits and loans, adding more than 750,000 clients, 3,000 employees and 100 branches.
Galicia clarified that at this stage “there will be no changes for collaborators and clients, nor in daily operations. Galicia and Galicia Más (the new name of HSBC Argentina) are two independent banks, each with its own products, benefits, branches, services and digital channels (App and Online Banking) and customer service. “Customers who have products in both banks will continue to manage them separately, as they did until now.”
The bank reported that in the next stage, “we will begin the integration of both banks, to offer a single proposal to clients, a process that we estimate will materialize in 2025, which will be reported in due course.”
Furthermore, they clarify that “given the possibility that customers may receive fraudulent messages to verify their data or offer them any type of help, it is essential that, if they have any questions, they contact the bank through their usual official customer service channels.
“We are very excited about this acquisition that consolidates us as the largest financial group in the country. We want more people to be able to manage their finances in a simple way, travel, buy their own home and invest for their future. Our technology will continue to grow so that more companies can access digital tools that allow them to finance their business, manage their financial flow online, and manage collections and payments in their value chain. The increase in credit will be one of the engines of economic growth in our country, which will spill over at a social and environmental level.” highlighted Fabián Kon, General Manager of Banco Galicia.