Banorte

Grupo Financiero Banorte
Banorte head office in Monterrey

Banorte

Grupo Financiero Banorte (GFNORTE) is one of Mexico's largest and oldest financial institutions. Banco Mercantil del Norte, known as Banorte, is the main subsidiary of Grupo Financiero Banorte. The bank serves about 15 million clients through a network of over 1,100 branches and 4,539 ATMs. Banorte also has presence in the US Hispanic market through Inter National Bank (INB), based in Texas, and the remittance companies, Motran and Uniteller, based in California and New Jersey. Banorte is the last remaining large bank in Mexico controlled by local shareholders. The rest of the large banks are controlled by international behemoths such as Citigroup, BBVA, Santander, HSBC and Scotiabank. In spite of the large international scale of its competitors, Banorte has been a formidable player and has consolidated its leading position in many market segments, including mortgages and SMEs, while increasing its market share in other key segments, such as credit cards and mutual funds. The prestigious magazine Euromoney has named Banorte “Best Bank of the year in Mexico” and “Best Bank in Latin America” in 2008. After the merger with IXE Grupo Financiero, Banorte has a network of over 1,270 branches, 6,180 ATMs and over 85,000 POS terminals. As of September 30, 2011, the company had Mx$805.780 billion (US$58.51 billion) in total assets.

 Financials:

2009 (US$) 2010 (US$)
Total assets 44.5 billion 47.6 billion
Revenue 4.9 billion 2.2 billion
Net income 905.2 million 542.6 million
Employees 20,008

Head office address:
Grupo Financiero Banorte, S.A. B. de C.V.
Avenida Revolución 3000, 3er piso, Colonia Primavera
64000 Monterrey, Mexico
Phone: +52-81-8319-7200
Fax: +52-81-8319-6237
Website: www.banorte.com

Banorte offices in Mexico

Banorte history

Banorte was founded in 1899 as Banco Mercantil de Monterrey. In 1986, four years after the bank’s nationalization, Banco Mercantil de Monterrey merged with Banco Regional del Norte, creating Banco Mercantil del Norte. Six years later, in 1992, during the banking system’s re-privatization process, Banorte was acquired by a group of shareholders led by Roberto Gonzalez Barrera. One year later, with the integration of the broker dealer and other finance companies (factoring, warehousing, leasing and bonding), Grupo Financiero was incorporated as it is known today. After being privatized, Banorte was mainly a regional bank with presence only in the northern area of the country. After the 1995 financial crisis, it began a rapid expansion with the acquisition of Bancentro, a bank based in central Mexico, and Banpaís which was located mainly on the southern part of the country. In 1997, Banorte became a national bank with presence throughout the country. On that same year, the Long Term Savings Sector was created, with a company Banorte-Generali that provides Annuities, Retirement Savings Funds and Insurance. In 2002, Banorte continued its expansion through the merger with Bancrecer. In 2004, GFNORTE acquired Seguros Generali Mexico. In 2006, Banorte expanded its operations into the United States, formalizing the acquisition of Inter National Bank, based in Texas and Uniteller, a remittance company based in New Jersey. In 2007, Banorte acquired Motran Services, a remittance company based in California. In 2009, Banorte consolidated it presence in the AFORES’ market through the acquisition of Afore IXE, Afore Ahorra Ahora y Afore Argos’ assets. In 2009 Grupo Financiero Banorte announced the establishment of a Level 1 Sponsored American Depositary Receipt (ADRs) Program in the United States. It means that Banorte will operate in "Over the Counter" market without being listed in the NYSE or NASDAQ. On June 9th 2009, Grupo Financiero Banorte S.A.B.’s common shares were listed in the Madrid Stock Exchange through the Latin American Stock Market "Latibex" and began trading successfully under the symbol XNOR.

08 July 2011

World Finance and Euromoney magazines award Banorte - IXE

World Finance and Euromoney magazines award Banorte - IXE as 'The Best Bank of the Year in Mexico'

15 April 2011

Grupo Financiero Banorte completes the share exchange mechanism with Ixe Grupo Financiero

30 March 2011

The Shareholders' Assembly of Grupo Financiero Banorte approves the merger with Ixe Grupo Financiero

17 November 2010

Grupo Financiero Banorte reaches a merger agreement with Ixe Grupo Financiero

As a follow up to the material event published on October 19th, stating that Grupo Financiero Banorte and IXE Grupo Financiero had reached an agreement to pursue an integration mechanism, GFNORTE informs that after completing the due diligence process, both institutions have reached a binding merger agreement. This agreement is subject to customary regulatory and corporate approvals. We estimate the transaction to close during the first quarter of 2011.