WARSAW: Austria’s Erste Group Bank has acquired a 49% stake in Santander Bank Polska, the Polish unit of Spain’s Santander, in a deal valued at approximately 6.8 billion euros ($7.7 billion), the banks announced Monday.
Shares of Santander Bank Polska fell around 5% following the news, while Erste’s stock surged 6.46%. Santander shares were up 0.3% by 0830 GMT.
As part of the agreement, Erste will also purchase 50% of Santander’s Polish asset management business for 200 million euros. Erste said it will finance the acquisitions entirely through internal resources.
Santander, the eurozone’s largest lender by market value, plans to use a portion of the proceeds to expand organically in Europe and the Americas.
The banks also disclosed plans for a strategic partnership in corporate and investment banking. Additionally, Erste will gain access to Santander’s global payments platforms.
The all-cash transaction values Santander Bank Polska at 584 zlotys ($155) per share, equating to 2.2 times its tangible book value per share as of the first quarter of 2025, or a total of 13.88 billion euros.
Under Polish takeover laws, a bidder is not required to make a mandatory takeover offer unless it holds at least 50% of the target company’s voting rights.
Santander Bank Polska ranks as Poland’s third-largest lender by assets and remains one of the country’s most profitable banks, benefiting from high interest rates in contrast to the eurozone, where the European Central Bank has maintained a dovish stance.
Santander said it intends to return 50% of the capital generated by the sale to shareholders, effectively executing a share buyback worth approximately 3.2 billion euros. The payout will help accelerate its goal of up to 10 billion euros in share repurchases for 2025 and 2026.
Erste’s acquisition funding is supported by the cancellation of a planned 700-million euro share buyback, a temporary reduction in its dividend payout ratio, and various balance sheet optimization measures, the bank said.