Spain's Santander sells 49% in Polish unit to Erste for $7.7 billion
By Jesús Aguado
MADRID (Reuters) -Spain's Santander on Monday announced the sale of a 49% stake in its Polish unit Santander Bank Polska for around 6.8 billion euros ($7.70 billion) to Austria's Erste Group Bank.
It also reached a deal to sell a 50% stake in Santander's Polish asset management business to Erste for 200 million euros.
Santander and Erste also announced a strategic cooperation to leverage their respective strengths and footprint in corporate & Investment Banking (CIB), and to allow Erste to gain access to Santander's global payments platforms, the Spanish lender said.
Santander said it intended to distribute 50% of the capital released from this sale to shareholders upon completion, which will be equivalent to a share buyback worth approximately 3.2 billion euros. This payout would accelerate the delivery of its up to 10 billion share buyback target out of the 2025 and 2026 earnings and anticipated excess capital.
The euro zone biggest lender by market value also said that the funds released will give it more flexibility to invest in other markets where it already operates in Europe and the Americas and boost growth, increase network revenues and maximise customer and shareholder benefits.
($1 = 0.8833 euros)
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