Santander Bancorp Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire Santander Securities
December 02 2003 - 7:59AM
PR Newswire (US)
Santander Bancorp Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire
Santander Securities SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Dec. 2
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Santander BanCorp (NYSE: SBP; LATIBEX:
XSBP), announced today the execution of a definitive stock purchase
agreement to acquire Santander Securities Corporation ("Santander
Securities") from Administracion de Bancos Latinoamericanos
Santander, S.L. ("ABLASA"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Banco
Santander Central Hispano, S.A. Santander Bancorp will acquire all
of the common stock of Santander Securities for a purchase price of
$62 million. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to
Santander BanCorp's earnings per share. Taking into account this
business combination, the pro forma earnings per share for the nine
months ended September 30, 2003 would have increased by $0.15 to
$0.46 per share, and for the year ended December 31, 2002 would
have increased by $0.08 to $0.46 per share. These pro forma
earnings per share include the cost of funds associated with the
debt expected to be issued to effect this transaction. The
transaction, which is subject to normal regulatory approvals, is
expected to close by December 31, 2003. Jose R. Gonzalez, President
and CEO of Santander BanCorp, said "With this acquisition Santander
BanCorp becomes a diversified financial services company positioned
to deliver a full range of financial products and services to our
customers, with the addition of the securities broker-dealer and
asset management businesses to its commercial banking, consumer
lending, mortgage banking and insurance lines of business. It also
incorporates an important client base served by a first class team
of financial consultants and portfolio managers." Gonzalez founded
Santander Securities in 1996 and was its President and CEO until
September 2001. Carlos M. Garcia is currently the President and CEO
of Santander Securities. Santander Securities is the second largest
full service securities broker-dealer in Puerto Rico with
approximately $5.7 billion in assets under management, composed of
over $3.6 billion in customer assets at the retail broker-dealer
and $2.1 billion in managed mutual fund gross assets and
institutional accounts at its wholly-owned subsidiary, Santander
Asset Management Corporation. Santander Securities is a registered
broker-dealer and a member of the National Association of
Securities Dealers, Inc. and Securities Investors Protection
Corporation. With a staff of 144 professionals, it offers full
securities brokerage services, including retail and institutional
sales, trading, investment banking, asset management and research.
Santander Securities' principal office is located at 221 Ponce de
Leon Avenue, San Juan, Puerto Rico. It also has several offices in
Puerto Rico and an office at 1401 Brickell Avenue in Miami,
Florida. Santander BanCorp is a publicly held financial holding
company that is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and on
Latibex (Madrid Stock Exchange). It has two wholly owned
subsidiaries, Banco Santander Puerto Rico and Santander Insurance
Agency. Banco Santander Puerto Rico has been operating in Puerto
Rico for 26 years. It offers a full array of services in the areas
of commercial, mortgage and consumer banking supported by a team of
over 1,500 employees, with 66 branches. Santander Insurance Agency
offers life, health and disability coverage as a corporate agent
and also operates as a general agent. For more information, visit
the Company's website at http://www.santandernet.com/. Banco
Santander Central Hispano, S.A. (SAN.MC, STD.N) is the largest
financial group in Spain and Latin America by profits, and the
second largest bank in the Euro Zone by market capitalization.
Founded in 1857, it has forged important business initiatives in
Europe, including a 15-year old alliance with The Royal Bank of
Scotland, ownership of the third largest banking group in Portugal
and the leading independent consumer finance franchise in Germany.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are
based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections
about the industry in which the Company operates, its beliefs and
its management's assumptions. Words such as "expects,"
"anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans,"
"believes," "seeks," "estimates" and variations of such words and
similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. These statements are not guarantees of future
performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and
assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual
outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed
or forecast in such forward-looking statements. Factors that may
cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking
statements include, among others, the following: (1) general
economic conditions are less favorable than expected; (2)
competitive pressures among financial services companies in Puerto
Rico increase significantly; (3) substantial changes in levels of
market interest rates and prices may adversely impact funding
sources and the value of financial products and assets; (4)
legislation or regulatory changes adversely affect the businesses
in which the Company is engaged; and (5) litigation liabilities,
including costs, expenses, settlements and judgments, may adversely
affect the Company or its businesses. Except as otherwise required
under federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the
SEC, the Company does not have any intention or obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or
otherwise. The pro forma information provided herein is not
indicative of future results of operations. DATASOURCE: Santander
BanCorp CONTACT: Carlos M. Garcia, +1-787-759-5370, or Evelyn Vega,
+1-787-777-4546, both for Santander BanCorp Web site:
http://www.santandernet.com/
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