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Santander Bank Polska SAUPDATE: Erste Group Bank to buy 49 pct of Santander BP lender and 50 pct in Santander TFI for total of EUR 7 bln
Austrian financial service provider Erste Group Bank has signed an agreement to buy 49 percent of listed lender Santander Bank Polska and 50 percent of Santander TFI for a total of EUR 7 billion, Erste said in a market filing. Erste expects the acquisition to be finalised by the end of 2025
It said that an agreement had been signed to buy a stake in Santander Bank Polska for a cash consideration of PLN 584 (EUR 136.6) per share (totalling around EUR 6.8 billion) and a 50 percent stake in Santander TFI for a cash consideration of around EUR 0.2 billion from Santander Group. This brings the total to EUR 7 billion.
Before the completion of the planned acquisition, the Santander Group plans to acquire a 60 percent stake in Santander Consumer Bank, currently owned by Santander Bank Polska, in order to own 100 percent of the company.
Following the transaction, Santander Bank Polska is expected to have more than EUR 37 billion in net loans, more than EUR 50 billion in customer deposits, around EUR 67 billion in assets and around EUR 1.7 billion in net profit (adjusted for provisions for CHF mortgages) based on pro forma figures as of December 2024.
"Erste Group intends to acquire 49 percent of the ordinary shares of Santander Bank Polska from Santander Group for a cash consideration of PLN 584 per share, making Erste Group the largest single shareholder in the bank," the release said.
"The proposed acquisition of 49 percent of the shares will give Erste Group de facto control of Santander Bank Polska as its single largest shareholder with the right to nominate members of the supervisory board and, through its representatives on the supervisory board, members of the management board. It would also lead to the full consolidation of Santander Bank Polska as part of the Erste Group once the transaction is completed," it added.
It was reported that the closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals, including in particular from Poland's financial market regulator KNF and antitrust approval from the European Commission.
Erste expects the acquisition to be finalised at the end of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and other preconditions, including the finalisation of the sale of Santander Consumer Bank to Santander Group.
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