Arias, Fábrega & Fábrega acted as legal counsel to Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (BLADEX) and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. in the successful closing of a US$100 million 5-year senior, amortizing acquisition finance facility for Imperia Intercontinental Inc., the parent company of Banco Cuscatlán de El Salvador, S.A. and Seguros e Inversiones S.A. Bladex acted as Joint Lead Arranger and Bookrunner, together with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Bladex is also the Administrative Agent under the Facility.

Imperia entered the financial sector with the acquisition of Citibank’s consumer banking and insurance business in El Salvador in June 2016. Banco Cuscatlán, rated AA+ locally by Fitch Ratings, is the fifth largest bank in the country, with US$1.7 billion in assets as of December 31, 2019. SISA is one of the largest players in the Salvadorian insurance sector with a gross written premium market share of 20.7% at year-end 2019.

Proceeds of the Facility were used to partially finance Imperia’s acquisition of Scotiabank’s Banking and Insurance operations in El Salvador. The acquisition consolidates Banco Cuscatlán’s market position in the country as the second largest bank, with US$3.8 billion in total assets, a diversified loan portfolio mix and a customer base of more than 750,000 clients. With the acquisition, Banco Cuscatlán becomes the market leader in mortgages and credit cards, and SISA consolidates as the largest player in the insurance sector.

The Facility was 1.57x oversubscribed and attracted the interest of 13 financial institutions from Central America and the Caribbean, Europe and the United States of America, most of which represent new banking relationships for Imperia.