Colombian Grupo Aval takes over BAC-Credomatic

The banking group BAC-Credomatic on Thursday was officially turned over to the hands of Colombia’s Grupo Aval in the biggest foreign acquisition ever by a Colombian company. Prior to Aval’s purchase, BAC-Credomatic was controlled by U.S. conglomerate General Electric (GE).

The transaction, which was announced July 15, is valued at $1.9 billion and is part of GE’s plan to reduce its financial investments, which swelled in the years prior to the economic crisis.

BAC-Credomatic, which was founded in 1952, operates in six Central American countries and Mexico. Grupo Aval is the largest financial group in Colombia and owns four national banks, including Banco de Occidente, Banco AV Villas, Banco Popular and Banco de Bogotá.

All of BAC-Credomatic’s existing offerings will remain under Grupo Aval.