NEW YORK & SAO PAULO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings considers Banco Santander Spain's offer to buy the minority-held shares of its Brazilian subsidiary as neutral to Santander Brasil's ratings.
Banco Santander Brasil S.A. (SanBrasil: Long-Term Foreign Currency IDR rated 'BBB'; National Long-Term Rating 'AAA(bra)' by Fitch) announced on April 29th an offer by its Spanish parent, Banco Santander, to acquire the remaining portion (approximately 25%) of the shares that it does not already own of its Brazilian banking subsidiary.
The Spanish parent's stated objectives for the proposed exchange of SanBrasil's shares for shares of the parent include the unlocking of long term value in the Brazilian business, the increasing of the weight of the Brazilian market, and making a financially attractive offer to its shareholder bases.
Fitch views this announcement as having a neutral impact on the ratings as, in the short term, Fitch believes that this exchange does not result in a change in terms of the propensity for support of the bank and will not have an immediate impact on the bank's strategies for doing business in Brazil. Also, this program will require the approval of multiple regulators which is expected by September. Once approval is received, the share exchange is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of this year. The minority shareholders that do accept the offer will own shares in the Spanish parent bank and receive future dividends from them.
Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'.
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