HSBC Holdings has taken another step in what is becoming its relentless march into Latin America, with a deal worth up to US$688 million to buy Argentinian financial services company Roberts Group.
The takeover will give HSBC one of the most influential financial groups in Argentina, with outright control over Banco Roberts, the country's sixth-largest bank, and Docthos Healthcare.
It will also inherit a 97.94 per cent stake in one of Argentina's largest insurance companies, La Buenos Aires Compania de Seguros.
In similar fashion to its $940 million deal in March to buy Brazil's fifth-largest bank, Banco Bamerindus, the normally conservative HSBC has yet to complete its due diligence on Roberts.
It also needs to gain regulatory approvals, but sees Argentina as a prime investment opportunity, with a growing middle class which will increasingly demand more sophisticated banking products.
The group said the deal would give HSBC significant interests in other financial services companies in Argentina, which are complementary to the HSBC group, including a 29.71 per cent stake in Maxima Pension Fund.
HSBC's acquisition of Roberts highlights a trend within the group, which has clearly identified Latin America as a strategic growth area.