27th Feb 2008 17:36
Banco Santander S.A.27 February 2008 Santander purchases from Fortis ABN AMRO's asset management activities in Brazil Madrid, February 27th, 2008 - Fortis and Santander today announced that theyhave reached an agreement by which Santander will purchase from Fortis theBrazilian asset management activities of ABN AMRO, which Fortis acquired as partof the Consortium's (RBS, Fortis and Santander) purchase of ABN AMRO. Fortiswill retain the Latin American (ex-Brazil) institutional sales and some equityinvestment teams related to funds distributed through ABN/Fortis channels. Joan David Grima, Head of Santander Asset Management said, "After a thoroughanalysis, we concluded that, given their local character and distributionthrough the local retail network of Banco Real from a customer perspective theseactivities were more appropriately aligned to Banco Real, which will become partof Santander." Richard Wohanka, CEO of Fortis Investments, comments: "We are delighted that wecould reach that agreement with Santander, as it enables both parties tocontinue to serve our customers with the best in class, tailor-made products andservices. Fortis Investments continue to manage and develop the Latin Americaninstitutional sales business (ex-Brazil) as well as certain Latin AmericanEquities investment teams, given their international reach." This transaction, which amounts to approximately EUR 209 million, should befinalised in the second quarter of 2008, subject to customary closing conditionsand regulatory approvals. Fortis recently received an agreement from the Dutch Regulatory authorities tomove forward with the integration of ABN AMRO's asset management with FortisInvestments. Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N) is the largest bank in the euro zone by marketcapitalisation and fifth in the world by profit. Founded in 1857, Santander hasEUR 912,915 million in assets and EUR 1,063,892 million in managed funds, 65million customers, 11,178 branches and a presence in 40 countries. It is thelargest financial group in Spain and Latin America, and is the sixth largestbank in the United Kingdom, through its Abbey subsidiary, and is the thirdlargest banking group in Portugal. Through Santander Consumer Finance, it alsooperates a leading in 12 European countries (Germany, Italy and Spain, amongothers) and the United States. In 2007, Santander registered €9,060 million innet attributable profits, an increase of 19% from the previous year. In Latin America, Santander manages over USD 300 billion in business volumes(loans, deposits, mutual funds, pension funds and managed funds) through 4,498offices. In 2007, Santander reported USD 3,648 million in net attributableincome in Latin America, 27% higher than the prior year. Fortis is an international financial services provider engaged in banking andinsurance. We offer our personal, business and institutional customers acomprehensive package of products and services through our own channels, incollaboration with intermediaries and through other distribution partners. Witha market capitalisation of EUR 32.8 billion (31/01/2008), Fortis ranks among the15 largest financial institutions in Europe. Our sound solvency position, ourpresence in more than 50 countries and our dedicated, professional workforce of60,000 enable us to combine global strength with local flexibility and provideour clients with optimum support. More information is available onwww.fortis.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Banco Santander