Popular, Inc. Announces Agreement to Purchase Mortgage Servicing Portfolio in Puerto Rico

Popular, Inc. announced today that its leading banking franchise in Puerto Rico, Banco Popular of Puerto Rico, has reached an agreement to purchase from R-G Mortgage Corp., a unit of R-G Financial, the third-party mortgage servicing rights to a mortgage loan portfolio of approximately $5.1 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2008.

“This transaction will further fortify our leading position in Puerto Rico and it is immediately accretive,” said Richard L. Carrion, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Popular, Inc.

“We continue to grow in our main market,” said David Chafey, President of Banco Popular of Puerto Rico. “This agreement increases our servicing portfolio to approximately $20 billion, creates the opportunity for cost synergies and provides an avenue to service an attractive clientele.”