BTG Pactual Signs Binding Deal to Acquire Banco Digimais Pending Approvals

Overview

• BTG Pactual said Wednesday it had signed binding documents to take control of Banco Digimais, which is controlled by media owner and church leader Edir Macedo.
• Closing still depends on approvals from Brazil’s Central Bank and antitrust regulator CADE, plus a competitive process that lets other bidders submit offers.
• BTG did not disclose a price and says the goal is to set a reference value and then run a sale of all Digimais shares, with reports indicating Macedo may inject capital before any handover.
• Reports from Brazilian outlets say the deal may require support from the Credit Guarantee Fund, the industry deposit insurer known as the FGC, which can fund rescue lines but is under strain after the Master bank fallout and a R$4 billion request from Banco de Brasília.
• Digimais has been under close supervisory pressure and faces a court fight with asset manager Yards, which alleges thousands of bank credit notes lacked proper backing, a backdrop that matters for the bank’s roughly 199,000 customers and for confidence in its loans.