By Miles Johnson for FT.comBanco Santander, the eurozone’s largest lender, is pressing ahead with a plan to spin off part of its Argentinian arm in a US stock market listing expected to value the business at $3bn.
The Spanish bank has started testing interest among institutional investors for the listing of Santander Río, which could see between 15 and 25 per cent of the bank sold to raise between $500m and $700m.
Shares in Spanish banks tumbled alongside many of their European rivals on Monday on continued concerns about the country’s sovereign debt load, and ahead of the results of stress tests expected to be released on Friday.
Santander shares fell by 3.1 per cent to €7.32, while shares in rival BBVA dropped by 4 per cent to €7.22.
Santander, which has already filed a request with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US market regulator, to list American Depositary shares on the New York Stock Exchange, plans to use the proceeds from any listing to...Read full article
