Published: Friday, March 31, 2006 15:32 (GMT -0400)

First HSBC bought stained U.S. predatory lender. Now HSBC is paying much more for only 20 percent of a Mexican finance company.

The Mexican banking arm of UK-based HSBC (NYSE: HBC) on Friday said it would pay 700mn pesos (US$65mn) for a 19.99% stake in consumer finance company Financiera Independencia and its affiliate Serfincor. Financiera Independencia is one of Mexico’s leading companies in the sub-prime consumer loans market, Grupo Financiero HSBC said in a press release. The transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including regulatory approval.

Financiera Independencia was founded in 1993 and today operates in 69 cities through 120 offices. The company reported earnings of 209mn pesos for the first nine months of 2005 and performing loans of 1.6bn pesos at September 30, according to banking regulator CNBV. HSBC has been an active acquirer in Latin America during the last four years with its biggest purchase to date being Mexico’s fourth largest bank Bital in 2002.