By Rogerio Jelmayer
SÃO PAULO---The Brazilian unit of Spanish bank Banco Santander
SA will study the possible acquisition of HSBC Holding PLC's assets
in the South American country.
"We can't speak for HSBC Brazil, but there's a very initial
process for the sale of the bank (in Brazil) that we're going to
analyze," said Jesús Zabalza, chief executive of Banco Santander
(Brasil) SA at a press conference Tuesday. "We haven't made an
offer, we haven't even opened a data room for this operation."
The Wall Street Journal Reported in April that HSBC had hired
advisers to pitch the sale of a large chunk of its Brazilian unit
to prospective buyers, citing people familiar with the matter.
HSBC runs the seventh-largest bank in Brazil, with a 2.7% market
share, in terms of assets. HSBC Brazil swung to a loss of around
GBP200 million ($306.8 million) in 2014. It is unclear how much of
the Brazil unit, which employs 21,000 people, might be up for
sale.
HSBC's Latin America division, which also includes Mexico and
Argentina, suffered a difficult 2014, with adjusted profit before
tax dropping 50% as the Brazilian economy slowed. Meanwhile, costs
rose in the region, impacted by union-agreed salary increases and
inflation.
HSBC declined to comment.
Max Colchester contributed to this article.
Write to Rogerio Jelmayer at rogerio.jelmayer@wsj.com
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