Unit Open To New Acquisitions JULY 30, 2009, 9:45 A.M. ET
SANTIAGO (Dow Jones)--The Chilean unit of Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) is open to new acquisitions to increase its current 6.6% of the local loan market, Diario Financiero newspaper reported Thursday, citing a bank official.
Scotiabank Sud Americano aims to increase its loan market share to 10%, likely through acquisitions, the bank's chief executive, James Callahan, said.
"We're not only looking at small banks," Callahan said following a shareholders' meeting, the newspaper reported.
In 2007, Scotiabank Sud Americano acquired the local Banco del Desarrollo, a bank aimed at mid- and lower income retail clients and small-sized firms, for about $1 billion.
-By Carolina Pica, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-820-4244; carolina.pica@dowjones.com