Santander has done well in turning around its Brazilian bank, but is it time to cash out?
Santander’s decision to issue new shares equivalent to a 15 per cent stake in its Brazilian bank has therefore fuelled concerns that Spain’s biggest bank may secretly need more capital.One explanation is that Santander’s chairman, Emilio Botín, is more pessimistic about the bad debt outlook than he lets on, so floating the Brazilian operation would really be a disguised rights issue.A less prosaic explanation is that Mr Botín, is simply a deal-making maestro.
Read the full Lex note here.Related links:
Santander appoints advisers to help spin off its Brazilian arm – FT
Santander to spin off Brazilian arm in IPO – FT Alphaville
The pain in Spain will be felt mostly by the banks – FT Alphaville