MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Santander on Tuesday said it has launched a voluntary tender offer to acquire the 3.76% of shares in its Mexican unit it does not own as a step prior to its delisting.
Following the conclusion of the tender offer, which is expected to remain in place until March 8 though could be extended, Santander intends to delist the shares in Mexico and the United States.
The offer price to shareholders is set at 24.52 Mexican pesos ($1.28) in cash per Series B share in Mexico and the U.S. dollar equivalent of 122.6 pesos in cash per its American Depositary Shares listed in New York.
Over the past few years, Santander has expanded in emerging economies in search of faster growth than in core markets in Europe, where ultra-low interest rates had made the banking business less profitable.
(Reporting by Matteo Allievi, Tiago Brandao, Natalia Siniawski and Jesus Aguado; Editing by David Latona, Inti Landauro and Sharon Singleton)
