Grupo Sura bags ING assets

July 26, 2011 5:17 PM

Shearman & Sterling LLP, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and 10 Latin American firms across five countries are working towards the US$3.8 billion sale of ING Groep's assets in the region to Colombian financial holding company Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana (Grupo Sura), which marks the biggest foreign buy by a Colombian company to date.

The ING deal is the biggest foreign buy by a Colombian company (Credit: Jesper2cv via Flickr)
The deal, announced yesterday, includes ING's pension, insurance and investment management assets in Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, and Peru. The Dutch banking group's divestment was ordered by the European Union as a condition of a government bail-out, and will see Grupo Sura absorb ING's debt of US$94 million.

Sullivan & Cromwell, regular adviser to ING, is providing international advice led from their Paris office, alongside Latin American counsel Prieto & Carrizosa in Colombia, Galicia Abogados in Mexico, Carey y Cía in Chile, Guyer & Regules in Uruguay, and Rodrigo, Elías & Medrano Abogados in Peru.

Grupo Sura is being advised by Shearman & Sterling internationally alongside Rodríguez Azuero Abogados in Colombia, Jáuregui Navarrete SC in Mexico, Larraín Rencoret Lackington & Urzúa Abogados in Chile, Olivera Abogados in Uruguay, and Pizarro, Botto & Escobar – Abogados in Peru.o

When the deal closes at the end of the year, Grupo Sura will add over 10 million clients to its pension and insurance businesses, and assets valued at US$70 billion.

Grupo Sura is at the forefront of the march of Colombian companies expanding beyond the country's borders. Earlier this year, it bought two Salvadorean life insurance companies from Banco Agrícola for US$98 million, hiring Arias & Muñoz (El Salvador). Its cement group, Cementos Argos, turned to M&A heavyweight Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP for its acquisition of part of French company Lafarge's US assets in May.

Shearman & Sterling LLP has worked for Grupo Sura in the past; recently helping it raise US$300 million in an international debt issuance. For that the Colombian company relied solely on in-house counsel for local law matters, which is thought to be a first for international offerings made out of Colombia.

Prieto & Carrizosa advised Grupo Sura on two local insurance acquisitions in 2007. ING has also been a client in the past, and the firm has experience in outbound M&A; it helped Grupo Nacional de Chocolates (GNC) become the first Colombian food company to make an acquisitive move in the US food industry.

ING is holding onto its 36 per cent stake in Brazilian insurer Sul America, which will be divested separately.

The transaction will bring dozens of lawyers together across a range of practices, working on elements including the extraction of excess capital, debt reduction, and cash proceeds.

Counsel to Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana

US

Shearman & Sterling LLP

Partners Michael McGuinness, Jeanne Olivier, Jeffrey Crandall, Don Lonczak, Tina Patel, Linda Rappaport, and Christopher Ryan, counsel Jessica Delbaum and Alexandro Padrés, and associates Tania Mattei, Tomas Arnaude, Giovanni Cirelli, Tomas Arnaude, Giovanni Cirelli, Yan Liang, Hee Yeon Park, Daniella Polar, Vittorio Cottafavi, Jeffrey Tate, Nathan Tasso, Veronica Wissel, Mandee Lee and Gloria Jung

Chile

Larraín Rencoret Lackington & Urzúa Abogados

Colombia

Rodríguez Azuero Abogados

Mexico

Jáuregui Navarrete SC

Peru

Pizarro, Botto & Escobar – Abogados

Uruguay

Olivera Abogados

Partners Ricardo Olivera García and Carlos Loaiza Keel, and associates Federico Rocca, Bernardo Amorín, Lucía Grazioli, Isabel Abarno, Agustín Nopitsch, and Juan Ordoqui

Counsel to ING Groep

France

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Partner William Torchiana and counsel Joram Lietaert

US

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Partners Neal McKnight, Ronald Creamer, and Nader Mousavi, and counsel Rebecca Coccaro

Chile

Carey y Cía

Partner Diego Peralta and associates Vesna Camelio, Fernando Noriega and Sebastian Monge

Colombia

Prieto & Carrizosa

Partners Martin Acero and Juan Fernando Gaviria, counsel Jose Antonio Lloreda and associate Carolina Hernandez

Mexico

Galicia Abogados
Partners Manuel Galicia and Humberto Perez Rocha, and associates Carlos Chavez and Angeles Padilla

Peru

Rodrigo, Elías & Medrano Abogados

Partners Jean Paul Chabaneix, Luis Enrique Palacios and Jose Chiarella, and associate Nicolas Cornejo

Uruguay

Guyer & Regules

Partners Nicolas Piaggio and Juan Manuel Mercant, and associates Sofia Anza and Joaquin Idoyaga

(Source: Latin Lawyer)

26 July 2011

ING Groep also has a branch office on Curacao .  ING Bank (Curaçao) N.V., founded in 1977, operates as a subsidiary of ING Private Banking. The office will be closed down by the end of 2011.