Scotiabank, one of Canada’s “Big Five” banks, announced on Tuesday that it is acquiring Banco Dominicano del Progreso, a bank with operations in the Dominican Republic.
This acquisition underscores Scotiabank’s commitment to gain footholds in economically stable markets with strong growth potentials. Further, this acquisition is expected to drive even more profit to the lender in the long term.
Once the agreement is completed and approved by the regulator, Scotiabank will be the Dominican Republic's fourth largest full-service bank as measured by assets, and fourth-largest loans provider, servicing 10% of the market. Its customer base will also double roughly in size, going from approximately 250,000 to 500,000.
At present, Banco Dominicano del Progreso's operations in the country include 57 branches, 188 ABMs and 367 banking sub-agents that serve more than 250,000 retail and commercial customers.
The Dominican Republic, with a population of over 10 million people, has had the fastest growing economy in Latin America for the past few years, and is a priority market for Scotiabank in the Caribbean region.
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