Banc One Buying Firm That Lines Up Financing from International

To upgrade its international operations, Banc One Corp. has agreed to acquire the assets of Washington, D.C.-based Venture Marketing Corp., a global finance company.

The price was not disclosed.

Venture Marketing, which operates under the name Delphos International, arranges government and international credit agency financing for businesses outside the U.S. The company has arranged $4 billion worth of such financing for more than 350 companies in the past eight years.

David R. Meuse, chairman and chief executive of Banc One Capital Holdings Corp., parent of several specialized Banc One units, said the acquisition would help Banc One give customers easier access to international financing.

Executives added that the $97 billion-asset bank hopes to use the acquisition to develop project finance and international mutual funds, including funds that target technology ventures in the former Soviet Union. Columbus, Ohio-based Banc One also wants to develop business with small U.S. companies active in Central America and the Caribbean.

William Delphos, president of Delphos International, has been named a managing director of Banc One Capital Corp. and will continue to run Delphos as a unit of Banc One. Mr. Delphos formerly served as senior vice president and chief operating officer at the Washington-based Overseas Private Investment Corp.