Edir Macedo Bezerra, a Brazilian businessman and evangelical bishop, acquired control of Banco AJ Renner SA after receiving approval from Banco Central do Brasil, Valor Econômico reported.

Macedo now has an indirect stake of 89.9% in Banco AJ Renner's voting capital and 76.3% in its total capital. The businessman already held a 49% stake in the bank prior to the acquisition.

Banco AJ Renner told Valor that the bank's name could be changed after the transaction. "The acquisition right was exercised considering the lack of interest in the continuity of the old controllers, in addition to the difficulty in finding new investors," the bank said.

The bank was founded in 1981 by the Renner family, whose patriarch Antônio Jacob Renner also created fashion retailer Lojas Renner.

Macedo is the head of Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and owner of media company Rádio e Televisão Record SA.

Evangelical and Pentecostal Protestantism has grown rapidly over the last two decades in Brazil, home to one of the largest Protestant populations in the world.