M and A

Santander To Buy Back Asset Management Arm

Josh O'Neill Reporter 18 November 2016

Santander To Buy Back Asset Management Arm

The Spanish lender, which is set to open a UK private banking business in the coming months, did not disclose details of the deal.

Santander plans to buy back a 50 per cent stake in its asset management arm that it sold to two US-based buyout funds three years ago.

Under the agreement, the bank will regain full ownership of Santander Asset Management from Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic, it said in a statement earlier this week.

However, Santander did not comment on the price of the deal but the above firms valued the entire business at €2.05 billion ($2.2 billion) in 2013. 

The move comes as Santander prepares for the launch of its UK private banking proposition.

Santander Asset Management has €170 billion of assets under management and is located in 11 countries throughout Europe and Latin America.

As part of the transaction, Santander, WP and GA confirmed they will work towards disposing of their holdings in Allfunds, an intermediation and investment services business in which the three firms own a 50 per cent stake, through a trade sale or an initial public offering.

Santander created Allfunds in 2000 to help financial institutions access so-called open architecture funds. The bank estimates that the transaction will contribute more than 1 per cent to earnings per share in 2018, while having a negative impact on its core equity tier one ratio of around 11 basis points.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

Register for WealthBriefing today

Gain access to regular and exclusive research on the global wealth management sector along with the opportunity to attend industry events such as exclusive invites to Breakfast Briefings and Summits in the major wealth management centres and industry leading awards programmes