S&P: Banorte on negative watch

Standard & Poor's said it placed the BBB-/A-3 global scale ratings and mxAA+/mxA-1+ national scale ratings on Banco Mercantil del Norte SA Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Banorte (Banorte) on CreditWatch with negative implications.

The stand-alone credit profile is BBB-.

The agency also said it placed the BBB-/A-3 global scale ratings and mxAA+/mxA-1+ national scale ratings on IXE Banco SA Institucion de Banca Multiple, Grupo Financiero Banorte (IXE Banco) on CreditWatch negative. Its stand-alone credit profile is BB+.

The CreditWatch placements follow news that holding company Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV reached an agreement with Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA and BBVA Bancomer SA to acquire pension fund manager Administradora de Fondos para el Retiro Bancomer SA de CV.

The transaction is valued at an estimated $1.6 billion with Banorte and Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social each taking a 50% stake, S&P said.

The acquisition could place pressure on Banorte's capitalization levels, which are assessed as adequate, the agency said. But at this point, it is not clear exactly how Banorte's participation in the transaction ($800 million) will affect its credit metrics, S&P said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.