OREANDA-NEWS. April 26, 2011. Banco Industrial e Comercial S.A. ("BICBANCO") (BM&FBOVESPA: BICB3 and BICB4) hereby informs its shareholders and the market in general that it has agreed to acquire a direct interest of 40% of the capital stock of BRASILFactors S.A. The investment shall be subject to ratification by the Board of Directors at a meeting to be held in April 2011.

BRASILFactors S.A. is a joint venture currently in the phase of incorporation, whose shareholders will be BICBANCO (40%), FIMBank PLC (40%) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) (20%), with headquarters in the city of Sao Paulo. Its authorized stock capital may reach the equivalent of USD  25 million, with progressive imbursements to be conducted in stages as the business develops. The company's management shall be conducted jointly and shared in accordance with the ownership proportion of each of the shareholders. BRASILFactors' core business will focus on factoring services (in the strict sense of the term) and forfaiting, which involves the acquisition of receivables in both the domestic and international markets, with small and medium-sized companies being its target customers. BRASILFactors' operations are expected to start up by mid-2011.

FIMBank PLC is an European publicly-held Bank with headquarters in Malta, present and active in several countries. Its core business focuses on foreign trade financing, for which it provides products and related services, with emphasis and expertise in commodity finance, factoring and forfaiting. At present, it acts as a service provider to other financial institutions, with a focus on international operations and syndicated loans. FIMBank is present in Brazil through its subsidiary London Forfaiting.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is one of the institutions comprising the World Bank Group. It promotes financing for private sector investments and provides technical assistance and advice to governm ents and businesses. In partnership with private investors, IFC provides both lending and equity participation in businesses in developing countries.

Through its participation in BRASILFactors, BICBANCO plans to expand its range of operations, which today are directed to medium-sized and large companies, to extend its business to the segment of small companies through financial solutions that are suitable and beneficial. The universe of smaller companies in Brazil lacks credit facilities that are similar to those available to its overseas peers, such as the financial support of genuine factoring and forfaiting operations, for the revenue from both the domestic and international operations.