Chilean banker Odde Rishmague, who is engaged in factoring, financial advisory, and real estate in his home country, is planning to buy a bank in the US next year to merge it with his Miami-based Union Credit Bank (UCB), Rishmague told Chilean financial daily El Diario.
Rishmaque plans to open a niche bank in 2005 to serve high-income individuals, he was quoted as saying.
Rishmague said the acquisition of an additional bank in the US would require US$20mn-30mn, and a deal could be sealed in 1Q03.
UCB, a niche bank with US$50mn in assets, is in advanced talks with a US bank that has total assets of US$100mn and a similar business profile as UCB, he said.
Rishmague is also a minority shareholder in Chilean financial group Corp Group, which controls the Corpbanca franchise with banks in Chile and Venezuela and a branch in New York.
Source: Business News Americas
