Santander sold 3.5% of its Polish subsidiary between institutional investors for €407.3 million, the entity said on Tuesday, which carried out the transaction through an accelerated hiring process.
Specifically, according to a letter sent to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), Banco Santander tendered 3,576,626 shares of its Polish subsidiary at a price of PLN 482 (EUR 113.9) per share.
The bank explained that this accelerated recruitment process targets exclusively some institutional investors.
Following this transaction, Santander will now own 59,984,148 shares in its Polish subsidiary, representing approximately 58.7% of the share capital.
Taking into account the agreement with the Austrian Erste Group to sell 49% of the Polish subsidiary, once the two operations are closed, Santander will have a 9.7% stake in Santander Bank Polska.
The entity indicated that it will maintain its commitment to the Polish market through the Santander Consumer subsidiary in the country and the planned “strategic” cooperation with Erste Group in corporate and investment banking (CIB). In return, the Austrian entity will have access to Santander’s payment platforms.
The entity headed by Anna Botin stressed that the sale of 3.5% of Polska Bank is in line with “the group’s strategic focus on proactive capital optimization to create shareholder value.”
The remaining shares of Santander Bank Polska that Banco Santander will continue to hold will be subject to a lock-up period of 90 days after the closing, which will be subject to the usual exceptions. “Closing” will also allow completion of the process closure with Erste.
Banco Santander (in its capacity as manager and not as selling shareholder), Santander Bank Polska, Santander Brokerage Bosnia, Bank Handlowy w Warszawie Brokerage Office of Handlowy Bank, Citigroup, BofA and Goldman Sachs acted as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the offering. Erste Group Bank and Erste Securities Polska acted as co-managers.