Scotiabank offers $2.2 billion for stake in BBVA's Chilean unit

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank Of Nova Scotia on Tuesday offered $2.2 billion (£1.65 billion) for a majority stake in the Chilean operations of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) in a deal that would make the Canadian lender Chile's third largest non-state bank.

Spain's BBVA owns 68.19 percent of the unit while the Said family of Chile owns another 29 percent. It had a market capitalisation of $2.2 billion on Tuesday.

BBVA said it would accept the offer, which values the unit at around $3.2 billion, if it was approved by the Said family. The family has the right to sell its shares to Scotiabank under the same terms.

Shares in BBVA, Spain's second-biggest lender, were up 0.41 percent at 0903 GMT on Tuesday.

BBVA said in August it was looking at the possible sale of its Chilean retail bank after Scotiabank expressed an interest in buying up to 100 percent of it, although it had no plans to exit Chile altogether. It also has a consumer finance unit in Chile.

Scotiabank, which has the biggest foreign presence and capital strength of any Canadian bank, said in August it had the flexibility to grow and invest.

It said the offer, which would see its share of the Chilean market grow to 14 percent, was in line with its strategy to increase its scale in Chile and other Pacific Alliance countries, which include Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia.

BBVA reported a weak first half performance in Spain hurt by record-low interest rates and had to rely on a strong performance in Mexico to boost earnings.

(Corrects Chilean unit's market capitalisation)

(Reporting by Emma Rumney and Rishika Chatterjee; editing by Jason Neely)