Colombia’s Grupo Aval, owner in Panama of BAC, has reached an agreement to acquire Multibank Financial Group, the holding company of Multibank Panama, which has assets of US$5 billion.

Aval said that the transaction, which will be carried out through its subsidiary Banco de Bogotá, represents an important step in its regionalization strategy, Newsroom Panama reports.

“Panama is the country in Central America with the highest credit rating by international agencies,” said Grupo Aval CEO Luis Carlos Sarmiento Gutiérrez

At the end of June, Multibank Financial Group assets amounted to $5, billion. In the year ended June, the benefit of the Multibank Financial Group was $60 million. With the transaction, the Colombian group will add around 100,000 new clients in Panama

The operation, which must still be approved by the regulatory authorities, could be closed in the second quarter of 2020.