"Mexican banking concern Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB said Thursday that the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank, plans to invest capital in its banking unit, Banco Mercantil del Norte. In a filing with the Mexican stock exchange, Banorte said its board approved the investment by IFC, which will become a strategic partner.... Banorte Chief Executive Alejandro Valenzuela said at a press conference that the investment would likely be around $150 million for about a 5 percent stake in the bank...." [Dow Jones/Factiva]

Reuters writes that "...for the second quarter, Banorte's past due loans nearly doubled from the same period last year and were up 13 percent from the end of March. Total performing loans were up 8 percent from the year-ago period but flat compared to the first quarter of 2009. Banorte said its net profit for the quarter was MXN1.312 billion after setting aside MXN2.188 billion in loan loss reserves. Tough liquidity conditions allowed it to lend at higher margins during the quarter, boosting net interest income 12 percent to MXN5.838 billion, Banorte said...." [Reuters/Factiva]

BNA reports that "...on a separate front, the group said that its pension fund subsidiary Afore Banorte-Generali has bought Afore Ahorra Ahora's pension fund assets. The deal involved 367,660 retirement accounts with MXN1.14 billion in assets under management. Afore Banorte-Generali, which in June closed the acquisition of the pension fund business of Mexico's IXE Grupo Financiero, now ranks as the fourth largest player in terms of assets under management, the statement said...." [Business News Americas/Factiva]