Itau Unibanco Closes Financing with OPIC

July 15, 2014

(OPIC) São Paulo, Brazil - Itaú Unibanco, the biggest bank in Latin America by market value, announced today that it has secured financing of US$400 million from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. government’s development finance institution, with an additional US$80 million from Wells Fargo Bank, which is acting as a Sponsor of the initiative.

The loan, which has a six-year maturity, will be used to support the expansion of Itaú’s small to medium sized enterprise (SME) loan portfolio, particularly in the North and Northeast regions of Brazil where there is limited access to debt financing.

Cândido Bracher, CEO of Itaú BBA said: “Itaú is committed to expanding its footprint further into the North and Northeast of Brazil as part of our lending strategy to small and medium sized companies. This loan, which is OPIC’s largest disbursement in Latin America to date, demonstrates our intention to raise innovative long-term funding solutions to support our clients in these regions to help them overcome restricted access to financial services.”

Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of OPIC, said: “This support to Itaú Unibanco represents a milestone for OPIC, the U.S. government’s development finance institution. Applying OPIC’s unique development scoring methodology, Itaú’s effort to increase access to finance in Brazil resulted in the highest score among all of the Agency’s commitments in 2013. OPIC’s support will help Itaú fund thousands of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through an innovative model to provide loans with longer tenors than typically available, spurring the next generation of Brazil’s growth, job creation and development.”

About Itaú Unibanco
Itaú Unibanco is one of the largest banks in the world by market value. With total assets of R$1.03 trillion and net income of R$ 16.5 billion in 2013, Itaú Unibanco is a leader in private banking, vehicle financing and in the credit card market. The bank maintains a strong presence in banking activities for large corporates and has strong positions in real estate lending and credits withheld from paychecks. Itaú Unibanco is present in 19 countries besides Brazil and listed on the BM&FBovespa (ITUB3, ITUB4) as well as on the New York Stock Exchange (ADR level), and the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange (ITUB4). Its vision is "To be the leading bank in sustainable performance and customer satisfaction". For more information, please visit our website: www.itau.com.br or www.itau.com.

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