Santander completes stake sale in Polish unit to Austria’s Erste

Banco Santander has concluded the merchantability of a 49% holding successful its Polish subsidiary, Santander Bank Polska, to Austria’s Erste Group.

The woody besides includes the transportation of a 50% involvement successful Santander Bank Polska’s plus absorption concern (TFI).

The full woody worth stands astatine astir €7bn ($8.2bn).

The agreement, archetypal made nationalist successful May 2025, leads to a nett superior summation of astir €1.9bn for Santander and is expected to summation the group’s CET1 ratio by astir 95 ground points, oregon an estimated €6bn.

Santander intends to allocate astir fractional of the proceeds towards advancing its shareholder buyback programme, taxable to regulatory clearance.

Upon completion of the deal, Erste emerges arsenic the main shareholder successful Santander Bank Polska.

The Austrian lender intends to rebrand Santander Bank Polska arsenic Erste Bank Polska during the 2nd 4th of 2026.

Santander’s remaining involvement successful its Polish banking concern is present reduced to 9.7% aft this transaction and an accelerated placement successful December past year.

In a abstracted development, Santander has go the afloat proprietor of Santander Consumer Bank successful Poland aft acquiring the outstanding 60% stake.

The radical confirmed it volition proceed operating successful Poland wrong the user concern sector.

For Erste Group, the acquisition is projected to amended fiscal returns, with expectations of achieving a instrumentality connected tangible equity of astir 19% and a emergence successful net per stock exceeding 20% by 2026.

Additionally, some banks person launched a concern focused connected Corporate & Investment Banking.

It volition run nether a exemplary that involves referring clients betwixt the 2 banks and collaborating connected circumstantial products.

Under this arrangement, Santander volition facilitate entree for Erste’s clients to its planetary offering crossed aggregate regions, portion Erste volition supply insights and scope wrong Central and Eastern Europe.

The confederation besides includes imaginable collaboration done PagoNxt, Santander’s planetary payments platform, opening with enactment connected cloud-based payments infrastructure successful Poland.

Santander has indicated that redeploying superior from this merchantability should person a affirmative effect connected net per stock during 2027 and 2028.

The accrued flexibility from this transaction is besides expected to assistance with different planned initiatives wrong the group, including the projected acquisition of TSB successful the UK, inactive awaiting support from applicable authorities.

Banco Santander enforcement seat Ana Botín said: “Santander and Erste volition proceed to enactment intimately unneurotic done a strategical partnership, leveraging our complementary strengths to amended service clients crossed our respective markets.