Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton represented a group of underwriters in a $400 million equity offering by BBVA Banco Francés S.A., a leading Argentine bank, that will allow the bank to take advantage of growth opportunities in the Argentine financial sector. Davis Polk & Wardwell advised BBVA Banco Francés.

The transaction consisted of a global equity offering of 65.2 million shares in the U.S. and abroad, in the form of 21.7 million American depositary shares, totaling $344.5 million, with a concurrent offering in Argentina of 3,201 shares totaling about $17,000.

BBVA Banco Frances S.A. also completed a preemptive and accretion rights offer to existing Argentine shareholders, which resulted in the subscription of 788,070 shares, totaling approximately $4.2 million. The shareholders had a preemptive right to buy shares to maintain their proportional stake in the venture.