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Bankinter closes deal to acquire operations of EVO Banco and its Irish consumer credit subsidiary, Avantcard

Integrating EVO Banco will help Bankinter boost growth in digital customers and test innovative services and new business lines.

The bank is taking over EVO Banco’s portfolio of 452,000 retail customers, over 130,000 of whom belong to the Irish consumer credit outfit, Avantcard.

Today, after receiving authorisation from the European Central Bank, Banco de España and the Central Bank of Ireland, Bankinter has closed a deal to acquire the banking operations of EVO Banco and its consumer credit subsidiary in Ireland, Avantcard.

This deal focused on two businesses Bankinter considers strategic (digital banking and consumer finance) as well as two different geographies (Spain and Ireland).

In integrating EVO Banco, Bankinter will be taking on 452,000 new customers, with a younger and significantly digital profile, in addition to a balance sheet with 3.05 billion euros in deposits and 745 million euros in mortgages.

Bankinter’s chief executive officer, María Dolores Dancausa, asserts that acquiring EVO Banco will significantly boost the bank's digital strategy: ‘This is a very well known brand and it will allow us to explore new finance opportunities to complement Bankinter’s business lines from an innovative, entirely digital approach aimed at managing large volumes at lower costs. It will also help us test new, more disruptive products and services to show how banking will be in the future.

Furthermore, by taking over Avantcard Ireland Limited, Bankinter is expanding and geographically diversifying its consumer finance business in Ireland, a new Eurozone market with considerable growth potential.

With Avantcard, one of the leading financial entities in Ireland and the only one specialised in consumer credit, Bankinter is taking in 130,000 customers and 290 million euros in credit card debt and deferred payments, as well as 105 million euros in personal loans.

According to Bankinter’s CEO, ‘Avantcard is a very profitable and technologically advanced company; it is also the only pure financial entity operating in Ireland, so we will not have to launch and promote a new brand, which is always an arduous process’.

In regard to the impact of this double transaction, the financial terms of the deal allow the bank to create value for shareholders immediately and generate positive earnings per share (EPS). Furthermore, the bank expects the return on equity to be sustainable and projects it will be in the double digits in the medium term.

With EVO Banco and Avantcard, Bankinter is embarking on a new chapter of stronger, profitable growth in a more international playing field.